VOP Newsfeed

4/11/10 Why do I pay only $474 in Virginia income tax?

4/7/10 Grassroots Response to Health Care Passage

4/3/2010 Grassroots group eyes reform

3/30/10 Augusta Free Press audio show on VOP's state budget proposals

3/15/10 New Yorker audio slides on Martinsville, site of VOP's newest office

1/22/10 VOP on NPR's Morning Edition

11/25/09 Charges dropped against Joe Szakos, the Anthem Blue Cross customer arrested for questioning rate increases

Great New Books on Organizing:

Virginia Organizing Project interns and volunteers have been hard at work in Danville, Virginia, to show the city’s low-income residents how energy conservation can save them money. After VOP’s interns canvassing during the Civic Engagement Project this summer heard countless stories about families’ struggles to pay very high utility bills, canvassers in Danville received compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) through support from the Virginia League of Conservation Voters and the WestWind Foundation, and began distributing them in the city’s low-income neighborhoods.

“As we went door-to-door registering voters and talking to residents about their concerns, we canvassers gave free bulbs to residents while explaining to them how CFLs are different from other light bulbs,” said VOP Intern Tommy Roberts.

VOP volunteer Jessica Evans explained that switching one bulb “saves 75 percent on a utility bill per bulb and reduces carbon emissions by the same percentage making them one of the most effective ways you can take to saving energy — and money.”

“People got pretty excited when they heard that each bulb can save up to 48 dollars on utility bills over its lifetime,” Roberts said.

Danville resident Cecil Pinchback was so excited to receive three CFLs that she got a VOP intern to take a break from canvassing to change a bulb in three different rooms of her house. She explained, “I’ve been wanting to get some of these [CFLs], but it’s tough to afford them right now.”

VOP canvassers were also careful to explain the importance of recycling bulbs, and to tell residents where CFLs can be recycled in Danville.

Through the distribution of CFLs, VOP has been able to help residents in Danville’s low-income communities save money on their utility bills while educating them on the importance of conservation. This successful experiment has allowed VOP canvassers to make an immediate impact while continuing to build a grassroots power base across the state.

For more information, contact the Virginia Organizing Project at (434) 984-4655 x222.