Is your school participating in Walk + Bike to School Day on October 7th? Help strengthen the Safe Routes to School “Dear Congress” campaign by incorporating a letter writing or drawing activity into the day’s activities. This is an important opportunity to generate thousands of letters from people in communities throughout Oregon and show Congress how critical it is to strengthen and expand the federal Safe Routes to School bill.
Our goal is to submit 1800 letters to our Oregon Congress members. That’s just 10 letters for each school registered for Walk + Bike Day.
The easiest way to get letters on Walk to School Day is to follow these guidelines from the Safe Routes to School National Partnership:
1. Use the “Dear Congress” letter template—it takes less than 3 minutes for a parent or attendee to fill in a few sentences about why they support SRTS, and to add their mailing address. Keep a stack of the “Dear Congress” letter templates at the check-in area of your Walk to School Day event;
• Make sure you have several pens, crayons, and clipboards there;
• Have friendly volunteers ask adults to take a few minutes to fill out the letter and to encourage parents to have their children add a little drawing or note in crayon;
2. Distribute information and letter template to teachers and ask if they can incorporate a letter writing activity into the classroom agenda on Walk + Bike Day. Identify those teachers who will participate.
3. Collect students’ letters from your school. Designate a drop box where teachers can put their students’ letters.
4. Send your school’s letters to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership
All letters should be sent to Margo Pedroso with the Safe Routes to School National Partnership by October 23, 2009.
• Scan and email electronic versions to margo@saferoutespartnership.org.
• Mail letters to:
Margo Pedroso
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
P.O. Box 442328
Fort Washington, MD 20749
Please do not send your letters directly to your Members of Congress. We want to bundle the letters so they have a greater impact, so it’s important that you send them to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.
Read our blog post from last month and visit the official website to learn more about the campaign.
Are you a Walk + Bike Coordinator? Share your ideas for “Dear Congress” activities on the Walk + Bike page on Facebook.
