NYRA Freedom Volume 12, Issue 2

Contents

Alex Koroknay-Palicz Stepping Down
This Month’s Mission
Confronting Book-Banning and Birth Control Exclusion
A Different Kind of NYRA Donor
#16toVote Hits the Big Oh Two
250 New Recruits in Two Days
Calendar
Blog
News
NYRA in the News
Other News

Alex Koroknay-Palicz Stepping Down

At the end of this month, NYRA’s Executive Director, Alex Koroknay-Palicz, will step down. From NYRA’s founding, Koroknay-Palicz has been a central figure in the organization, serving as Executive Director for the last 12 years. Many cite him as the most important figure in NYRA’s success so far.

“Without Alex, this organization will not be the same,” says Campaign Director Bill Bystricky. “But he has left us strong enough carry on. And because he helped make NYRA the largest youth rights group in America, we have attracted the talent that can compensate for his loss.”

What is the best way people can thank Koroknay-Palicz for his dedication to youth rights? “The most important thing is to raise money for NYRA,” says Koroknay-Palicz. “Anything you can do will help. Personal donations, raising funds from friends and family, bake sales, fundraisers, and any other way.”

Koroknay-Palicz hopes to leave NYRA with more resources and more energy than ever. Donations will make that happen.

This Month’s Mission

The power of a viral video was proven this month as millions of hateful adults cheered a video by a man who destroyed his daughter’s laptop because she complained on Facebook about his treatment of her. We need videos to balance that out. We need videos to support better treatment for youth and an end to abuse and cruelty.

NYRA’s Video Team is working to make such videos, but we need more people on the Team. If you have the skill and the equipment to make pro-youth videos, we’re calling on you to join NYRA’s Video Team.

Confronting Book-Banning and Birth Control Exclusion

When Arizona officials banned select books from classrooms, NYRA joined the ACLU, the National Coalition Against Censorship, People For the American Way, and other organizations in a joint statement denouncing this censorship. Read the full statement.

NYRA also weighed in when the Obama administration drew fire for requiring that the health coverage provided to college students include coverage for birth control. Some universities run by religious organizations demanded to be excluded, but NYRA recognized that it is the student who should be allowed to make a conscientious choice, not her university. We said so in a joint statement with Advocates for Youth, the National Organization for Women, Catholics for Choice, Rock the Vote, and other groups. Read our statement.

A Different Kind of NYRA Donor

Remember in December when you gave so much money to the causes you care about that it broke your bank account and woke you up at night shaking with fear about those debt-collectors repossessing your bus pass? Good for you! Giving that much makes you awesome!

But did you know there’s also a way for NYRA-supporters to help us just as much without the pain? You can be a continual donor.

Here’s how it works. Rather than giving us a lump sum, you can arrange to have a smaller amount charged to your credit card on a monthly (or weekly) basis. The minimum is only $10, an amount you’ll barely miss.

Later, if your financial situation changes, you can change the amount that you give, or cancel it altogether.

Continual donating is not only easier for you, it’s easier for NYRA, giving us a steady stream of revenue, and saving us the trouble of reminding people to donate again. To become a continual donor, just fill out this form.

#16toVote Hits the Big Oh Two

Two years ago, NYRA launched a social network awareness campaign. Twitter-users posted comments with #16toVote, urging a more democratic America.

Under the leadership of NYRA Board Secretary Katrina Moncure, 16toVote has grown to become a monthly show of solidarity, with hundreds of tweets on the 16th of each month chanting individual calls for increased democracy.

Can this campaign grow any more? Find out on the 16th of next month.

250 New Recruits in Two Days

Perhaps the most valuable thing NYRA-members can do for the movement is to recruit more members. The staff at NYRA’s national headquarters understand that well. That is why this month, as Junior States of America holds their Winter Congress in Washington, DC, NYRA staffers have been tabling there each weekend of the event. So far, they’ve signed up roughly 250 new members and they expect to sign up at least 100 more this weekend. They’ve also sold countless buttons, T-shirts, and bumper stickers.

“I don’t know what’s more sore: my vocal cords from all that talking, or my hands from making all those buttons,” jokes Campaign Director Bill Bystricky. “But it’s certainly worth it when we spread the youth rights message this rapidly.”

To the hundreds now reading their very first issue of NYRA Freedom: Welcome!

Calendar

March 5 – Informal NYRA Chat
8 pm – Midnight Eastern Time
In the New NYRA chatroom
Join the chat online here: http://www.youthrights.org/community/chat
Or with an IRC client, go here: irc.geekshed.net:6667 room: #nyra

March 16 – #16toVote on the 16th
All Day – Tweet about the voting age and include the hashtag #16toVote
Follow NYRA on Twitter: http://twitter.com/youthrights

March 22 – March Chapters Meeting
8 pm Eastern Time – whenever it ends
In the New NYRA chatroom: http://www.youthrights.org/community/chat
Chapter Leaders and Intents, check in with our staff and update us on your progress since the last meeting. If you plan to attend but can’t get to the meeting at 8PM EST, please email bbystricky@youthrights.org and Bill will keep the meeting running until you arrive or until Midnight EST. (Those who arrive on time are free to leave before the meeting officially ends.)

March 20 – Informal NYRA Chat
8 pm – Midnight Eastern Time
In the New NYRA chatroom
Join the chat online here: http://www.youthrights.org/community/chat
Or with an IRC client, go here: irc.geekshed.net:6667 room: #nyra

April 2 – Informal NYRA Chat
8 pm – Midnight Eastern Time
In the New NYRA chatroom
Join the chat online here: http://www.youthrights.org/community/chat
Or with an IRC client, go here: irc.geekshed.net:6667 room: #nyra