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Hatef Yamini 6 min read

$100,000 Grant: Polls Still Open in the Peace Primary

vote_peace_button.gifWith over 200,000 votes counted and less than a left week to go, Ploughshares Fund’s Peace Primary is in high gear.   Twelve organizations focused on peace and human security are appealing to their constituents to vote early and often, in a bid to win the grand prize of a $100,000 grant from Ploughshares Fund.  Currently in the lead as of Wednesday afternoon are:

  1. True Majority
  2. American Friends Service Committee
  3. Union of Concerned Scientists
  4. Refugees International

But like all elections, everything can change in the final week.  Also in the running and campaigning hard are (in alphabetical order) Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation; Citizens for Global Solutions, Faithful Security; Genocide Intervention Network; Global Green USA; National Religious Campaign Against Torture; and Women’s Action for New Directions.

The Peace Primary is a campaign we devised – unique, as far as we know – to promote a “peace platform” for the election season, and to commemorate two major milestones at Ploughshares Fund – our 25th anniversary, and the fifty millionth dollar awarded to organizations and individuals around the world.  As a public foundation, we wanted to celebrate our tradition of entrepreneurial, high-impact grantmaking, and at the same time take advantage of the election year to elevate peace issues to the top of the list of priorities addressed by the presidential and congressional candidates.  

Thus, we were delighted when our favorite former President, Jed Bartlet – Martin Sheen, that is --  agreed to join the Peace Primary as the head of the panel that selected the twelve groups, and our chief spokesman.  He writes, “Issues of war and peace top the list of what concerns voters these days but our leaders in Washington have yet to offer a hopeful vision and the smart solutions we need to make America and the planet safer.”

Each vote costs $1, with a ten vote minimum and 1,000 vote maximum per group.  Voters are encouraged to vote for as many groups as they can in order to generate a comprehensive peace platform that encompasses the issues that are most important to each person, whether it’s the war in Iraq, nuclear weapons, Darfur or global conflict.  

Every dollar “voted” is a tax-deductible donation to the group voted for, with nothing taken off the top by Ploughshares Fund.  AND, the top vote-getter will receive an extra $100,000 they can use to amplify their message in the lead-up to the coming elections.  Writing in TPMCafe about the Peace Primary, William Hartung wrote that “this may seem like small potatoes (paging Dan Quayle -- please spell check this for me!) compared to the tens of millions that are being expended in the presidential primaries. But a little funding goes a long way in the world of non-governmental organizations.”

I can’t write for Frogloop without acknowledging the role of Care2 in helping us lay the groundwork for the campaign and in building a list of activists committed to taking action on behalf of peace and social justice.

The polls close at midnight on Halloween.  What’s in your peace platform?

-Deborah Bain 

 Deborah Bain is Director of Communications and Marketing for Ploughshares Fund, San Francisco, CA.

 

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