BY VERÓNICA POSES
CHICAGO - Young Socialists members across the country are making plans to raise $4,400 for a national YS fund drive launched November 7. The drive will last six weeks, ending December 19.

YS members in Newark, New Jersey, got off to a good start raising $222 through an auction and refreshment sales after a forum on "The Myth of Emerging Markets: What's Behind the Gyrations on the stock market?" November 9. The forum was held in conjunction with a national conference of socialist workers who are also members of the United Transportation Union

"YS members here are already discussing raising their goal after this immediate success," said Kevin Johnson from Newark. Johnson is co-director of the fund drive in that city. Initial pledges to the fund by members of the Newark chapter account for $210 of the $500 goal, and YS members there plan to hold another fund-raising event around the Thanksgiving holiday.

"The criteria for measuring the success of this fund drive will be how well we establish fund-raising as an ongoing activity of the Young Socialists," said Jack Willey, organizer of the YS National Executive Committee. "We need to raise money year-round to finance the organization and be able to reach out to political developments and opportunities in the United States and around the world," he added.

The money raised during the drive will help pay for basic things needed to maintain a national office, such as phone, fax, postage, and travel. A key factor in making the drive will be regular weekly payments from chapters.

Rebecca Arenson from Philadelphia reports that YS members there are thinking of how to make the fund drive a central part of their political work. "We are setting up weekly literature tables at college campuses," said Arenson. "We're going to have a donations can on the table and ask the students that stop by to make a contribution," she said.

In Chicago, the weekly Militant Labor Forum has given the YS its space for a Young Socialists forum to be held on the weekend of November 22. Mick McDonald, a member of the Central Committee of the Young Socialists in Canada, will be speaking on the fight for Quebec independence and reporting on the recent founding convention of the Young Socialists in that country held earlier this month.

A fund-raising dinner before the forum will maximize the political discussion with those attending. Participants at the event will also have the opportunity to make pledges and contributions towards the drive.

The YS still needs $85 to be pledged to insure that the national fund drive goal will be met. All contributions towards the fund should be sent to: Young Socialists, 1573 N. Milwaukee Ave, P.O. Box #478, Chicago, IL 60622.  
 
 
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