The Young Socialists organizes twice-yearly fund drives to insure it can function on a nationwide and international basis. This includes covering the costs of a national office, now located in New York, and making it possible for YS leaders to travel and work with YS members joining working-class resistance in a timely manner, as well as participate in international meetings.

Chapters and units of the YS across the United States set out on a 10-week campaign to raise money as part of their regular weekly political activity. There were four chapters that reached and exceeded their fund-raising goals and several others that came very close.

The YS chapter in Birmingham started with a goal of $450, and raised it slightly to $500 over the course of the drive. Romina Green, the chapter organizer, explained, "It wasn't one thing in particular. It was the hard effort by all of us in the chapter and a result of collective work. We focused on it from the very beginning and it was a central discussion at every meeting of the chapter."

Green also noted that the chapter incorporated fund-raising into educational weekends and recruitment work aimed at building the YS. "It was always a conscious part of the weekly political work we were carrying out," Green stated, summing up the success of the fund drive.

Louis Turner, a YS member in Tucson, described how the YS unit there surpassed its goal of $200. "What really put us over the top was the personal pledges by the YS members," he said. Additionally, a big success was sales of a series of sculptures made by Chessie Molano, a YS member in Tucson. The sculptures were of different faces entitled, "Faces of Struggle," and were sold at various political events.

The YS in Los Angeles also exceeded its goal of $450. Shem Morton, the YS organizer there, said that they organized to raise funds at a few key events. One of them was a weekend barbecue at the beach where supporters of the communist movement could get together, relax, and socialize. The YS organized the meal and had a fund pitch as well.

Units that met their goal were Birmingham, Los Angeles, Miami, and Tucson, Other areas, including Chicago, Detroit, Kent, and Washington, D.C., came close to reaching their goals.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home