From Kevin Martin:

Dear Friend,

You may know I have worked with Peace Action in various capacities for almost 40 years, and I am most proud of our commitment to being a true grassroots organization. During most of those four decades, especially as Executive Director and now President of Peace Action, supporting the work of our affiliates, chapters and associate organizations has always been one of my highest priorities.

Which is why I am particularly pleased to write to you today to ask for your support for New Hampshire Peace Action, an affiliate I have long worked closely with and admired. Its evolution over the years has been a real boon to peace and justice work in the Granite State and beyond. I am also pleased to report that if you give now, your gift will be doubled by a very generous donor!

Recently, NHPA’s work on national legislation has been impressive, helping move Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a key senator as the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and also even recently impacting Sen. Maggie Hassan’s votes to support free speech and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

NHPA also works hard to influence two very difficult US Representatives in Chris Pappas & Maggie Goodlander to choose diplomacy, peace and justice over weapons in the Middle East, support the civil liberties of protestors in the U.S., and challenges them to end their dependence on AIPAC. I had the pleasure of joining, online and in person, several NHPA-led lobby meetings with the two senators’ offices, and was very impressed at the preparation, solid arguments, and perhaps most importantly the relationship-building NHPA has done. That takes time and persistence, it doesn’t happen just at the lobby meeting, and it can’t happen at all without the grassroots advocacy of NHPA supporters.

I know you pay attention, and respond, to NHPA’s urging you to call, write, vigil, protest, support sit-ins, and all manner of political organizing. Please keep doing so, these scoundrel times demand we stay engaged!

One of the more effective and innovative NHPA efforts, especially in today’s fragmented media environment, is the use of letters to the editor not just to reach tens of thousands of readers in the state, but as part of its legislative advocacy.

Members of Congress and their staff constantly monitor the newspapers and other media in their states and districts, and tell us every letter on policy that mentions the senator or representative by name gets their attention. NHPA hand delivers these letters to the editor, even ones yet to be published, to your legislators’ offices, and I have recommended other peace groups around the country adopt this simple and effective tactic.

Leaders in NHPA also help shape national Peace Action’s agenda through regular participation in national meetings, and hosting regional retreats at the wonderful World Fellowship Center, including one coming up this July.

I also appreciate how NHPA is plugged into national coalition efforts, beyond just Peace Action’s work, including a surprising connection they made with a group organizing on Gaza, located outside Washington DC. They are neighbors of mine, but I did not know of them, and now, I am helping them, along with NHPA, advance their proposal for a Watermelon Wave campaign to impact Members of Congress who are out of alignment with their constituencies in terms of continuing to support Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The NH Peacekeeper program is an example of bringing these issues home, teaching and embodying nonviolence in our own country where it is also needed. It has also been successful in connecting NH Peace Action to many other organizations, a show of solidarity and recognition of intersectionality that is needed in these times.

And I can’t omit NHPA’s support for Bob Sanders’s cross country bicycle Ride Against War in Gaza, which is so inspiring to activists across the US.

I have only scratched the surface of NHPA’s work, and I particularly want to mention how well they have managed leadership transitions over the years to keep the organization fresh, engaged, relevant, and powerful, all as a mostly volunteer effort.

Please give as generously as you can to keep NHPA on the forefront of change for peace and social justice. Between now and August 15, a very generous donor will match your donation (up to a total of $5,000). Your gift now will have double the impact!

Peace, Salaam, Shalom,

Kevin Martin, President, Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund

ps. Your gift is fully tax deductible!