VALUE, Inc.
Voice for Adult Literacy United for Education
2217 Providence Ave., 2nd Floor
Chester, PA 19013
610-876-7625 (tel.)  610-876-1996 (fax)
http://www.valueusa.org
office at valueusa.org

August 12, 2004

Dear Colleague,

VALUE, the national adult learner leadership organization, urges adult  education programs across the country to set aside September 8th  through October 8th for civics and voter registration activities in  preparation for the November election. This is a non-partisan effort to  show that adult learners have a desire and a need to vote and do vote.

We are asking administrators and teachers to include in their lesson  plans, topics on election education from September 8th to October 8th.  This is to help adult learners to understand why voting is important in  a democracy, and to gain information on how to register to vote and the  voting procedures in their area. We, at VALUE, Inc are not experts on  the voting procedures, but we can guide you to a source that can  provide you with all the information you need.

Please read the March 2004 issue of “The Change Agent” at

					http://www.nelrc.org/Vera/index.htm

It will provide you with important information about how to register to  vote. Learners and practitioners who are U.S. citizens can print a form  to register to vote or request one to be mailed to them by clicking on  the blue box near the bottom of the web page reading, “Your vote  matters”. They will need to mail in the completed registration form 2-4  weeks before the election, but this varies depending on your state. You  will also find in “The Change Agent” web links to useful resources and  helpful voter education activities.

In addition, the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) has  developed a toolkit on election activities for 501(c)(3) organizations.  It describes the types of election-related activities in which  nonprofit charities can engage. In addition to describing the do’s and  don’ts, it provides samples and other materials to help charities  engage in permissible activities during this election cycle. The  website is

					http://www.ncna.org

If you click on Election 2004 Information, this will take you to the  NCNA election toolkit.

Please help us with this effort! It’s very important to adult learners  to show that we care about what happens to our families, to our  neighborhoods, and to our country. If your program plans to  participate, and we hope you will, please e-mail our colleague, David  Rosen, at djrosen at comcast.net. Let him know your name, the name of your  program, your town/state,  briefly  describe what voter education or  registration activities you plan. David has agreed to provide updates  on program activities to the AAACE-NLA electronic list.

Thanks for your help and support!

Marty Finsterbusch
Executive Director
VALUE, Inc.