Next month, dozens of community members will join together in the upstate to fight HIV/AIDS by supporting care, prevention, and advocacy with Piedmont Care. The 7th Annual Jam for Care Event will be held at Wild Wings in downtown Spartanburg on September 13 from 6:00pm-9:30pm.

This event will give locals the chance to hear about Piedmont Care’s education and care services currently offered in their community, while at the same time raising awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS. Attendees will also have the opportunity to give back to this incredible organization and support their HIV prevention program that does so much for our friends, families, and neighbors alike.

Come enjoy some live music from Peter, Paul, and Melinda, Door Prizes, a Silent Auction and more. Your support is needed to fill the demand of expanded services is YOUR community. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

AID Upstate’s Prevention Division provides HIV testing, risk reduction counseling and education to at-risk communities in Anderson, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, Laurens, Greenwood and Spartanburg Counties. All services are free.

Here is a video featuring Ra’Shawn Flournoy, Internet Outreach Coordinator. He talks about the different programs and outreach that AID Upstate is working on and how you can get involved.

Take Action: Watch the video or connect with AID Upstate (Facebook, Twitter, etc) so you can get more information about AIDS Prevention in South Carolina and continue to get updates.

I love voting!

When I was young, my parents would take my siblings and me to the polling place with them and let us “push the buttons.” As we got older, we would get to wear the “I Voted” stickers to school and be all cool. Election Day was a treat- a special day to look forward to.

I waited 18 years to vote, to have a say, to be counted. Now that I have the right to vote, I still find it to be exhilarating, exciting, and the best thing I can do as a citizen of this country. You can ask the workers at my polling place this morning, I LOVE voting.

Ok, yes- I have a degree in American History (with a particular focus on the Revolutionary War, the Constitution and the Presidency), so maybe I like these ideas of civic engagement more than some people. But just because I can recite all the Presidents or sing the words to the School House Rock song “the Preamble” doesn’t make voting any less important.

Casting your vote is not only your right but your responsibility. As a citizen, you pay taxes, you live by a code of laws, and you have the right to decide who helps spend your money and run this system. I would argue that these midterm elections are far more important than Presidential elections (where the voter turnout numbers are typically much higher).

It’s these midterm elections that decide who represents you on a more local level. Who is going to be at the statehouse proposing more education funding and better medical coverage? Who do you want at the Board of Education deciding on the kinds of curriculum your children are taught?

For some, this may be preaching to the choir, but if you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain. Our government is asking to hear our opinions. Tell them what you think! Make sure you vote today.

And if you have any good Presidential, Constitutional or American History trivia, please send it my way. I’m the one proudly wearing my own “I voted” sticker.

This morning, the Conference Committee met to discuss H. 3245- the Two Trip Ultrasound Requirement Bill. Chairman Bryant informed the committee that the Senate and House Attorneys were trying to find a compromise between the two bills, and until that time, the Conference Committee would be in recess.

The Committee agreed that they would be willing to resume discussions after the session adjourns on June 3rd in order to pass  this bill. The rules state that a Conference Committee may meet during the period in which vetoes are being voted upon (June 4 – 15). 

Tell Them member Elizabeth Fort wrote a phenomenal Letter to the Editor on the Two Trip Ultrasound Requirement Bill that was published in the Spartanburg Herald Journal this weekend. Click here to read her letter.

We’ll keep you updated as the session comes to a close.

We’re trying to get one last push to your State Senators before the end of the legislative session (Ends June 3^rd) and we need your help. We want to remind them one more time that their constituents care about preventing unintended pregnancies and stopping the spread of STIs and HIV.

Please help up by sending a personal note or email by next Wednesday (May 19^th, 2010) to your State Senator. Click here to read a sample letter. Be sure to add in a personal story or why these issues mean so much to you.

I’ve added some facts about your area below. If you are unsure about who your State Senator is, please click here. If you would like further statistics or information, feel free to email info@tellthemsc.org.

Once you’ve written your letter, either email it or mail it in. PLEASE BE SURE TO SEND US A COPY (info@tellthemsc.org) so we can keep track of how many people are taking action and sending notes.

Thank you for your help. Just a few more weeks until this session comes to a close. 

To accomplish our goals, we need to get as many people involved with the march as possible.

On Thursday, we announced our new Tell-A-Friend Giveaway. We want to reward our hard-working volunteers and advocates for bringing their friends to a party, or sending our information on the march to their contacts. Beginning last Thursday, for every friend that you get to sign up for the march, you will get one entry towards winning an $1,800 diamond and gold Slane & Slane necklace from Sylvan’s.

It’s really simple to get your entries to count.

Refer your friends to the website, and when they sign up on our new, faster form, they simply enter YOUR name in the “How did you hear about us” field. Every time your name is entered, you get another entry.

We really want to reward Tell Them members and marchers for all their hard work during the march. Please, keep emailing this out to your friends and get them to sign up. We already have one person with 27 entries!! Think you can top that?

 Now that we’re in the final stretch of the Virtual March, we really need YOUR help. Call, email or forward information to your friends, coworkers, family- anyone who you think cares about these issues. We have over 2,500 voices ready to go next week, and want to make sure that every person has a chance to speak.

7 days left- let’s get more marchers and get ready for next week!

Tell Them has some extremely exciting news to share!

One lucky Tell Themmarcher will win this beautiful Slane & Slane 18K yellow gold diamond bee necklace, valued at $1800.

So how do you enter the contest? By getting your friends to sign up for the Virtual March!

How the contest works:

• First, invite your friends to register for the march.
• When they fill out the online form, they MUST put your name in the How did you hear about us? field.
• Every registration form that references your name provides you with one entry in the Jewelry Giveaway drawing. (So if five of your friends sign up and reference your name, you will have five entries to win.)

The Jewelry Giveaway drawing will take place March 24 at noon.

The winner will be announced here and on the Tell Them “From the Hive.”

We are SO excited about this giveaway. The necklace is BEAUTIFUL and features a bee, which is clearly our favorite symbol. This has been such an amazing ride, and we’d like to thank our marchers by rewarding their continued efforts. Please, RECRUIT YOUR FRIENDS and you’re entered to win!

MAKE SURE YOU TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE “How Did You Hear About Us?” FIELD! If your name isn’t included, you won’t recieve an entry.

The Virtual March is almost here! Now, more than ever, it is important to personally recruit every last supporter out there. Invite your friends, your spouse, your partner, your family members, your coworkers. Just imagine how our numbers would swell if every marcher recruits at least two others. We can make a difference!

   Contest Rules:

To be eligible for the drawing, you must meet the following three criteria:

1. You must be at least 18 years of age.
2. You must be a South Carolina resident or a student enrolled in a South Carolina institution of higher learning (a valid government- or institution-issued photo ID will be required if you win)
3. You must have registered for the Virtual March to the Statehouse by computer via www.tellthemsc.org by no later than 11:59pm on March 23, 2010 in order to be eligible to participate this drawing.

Click here for complete giveaway rules

This is getting really exciting! Kelly and I have been traveling around the state giving presentations about the march and meeting fantastic people. We’re trying to get some videos of our adventures up here for you to view, but we’ve been so busy that time is getting away from us.

As we begin the final 6 weeks of the Virtual March registration period (scary!!), Kelly and I are putting together our calenders and making plans, but we want to hear from YOU! Do you want to have Tell Them in your community? Have any ideas for fun videos or games we could offer? Want more information about the legislation or how the march is going?

We want to know, so please email or comment below.

Keep up the good work- forward the Virtual March to your friends and family. Get people to the website and sign up for the March!

The economic reality of unintended pregnancy is that this issues costs the taxpayers of South Carolina spend $156 million annually. And the numbers of teen and unintended pregnancies are rising. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, the pregnancy rate for girls between ages 15-19 has increased 3%. The Guttmacher Institute study goes on to say,

“The significant drop in teen pregnancy rates in the 1990s was overwhelmingly the result of more and better use of contraceptives among sexually active teens. However, this decline started to stall out in the early 2000s, at the same time that sex education programs aimed exclusively at promoting abstinence—and prohibited by law from discussing the benefits of contraception—became increasingly widespread and teens’ use of contraceptives declined.[1]”

This rise in the teen pregnancy numbers has many concerned. ““It’s very disturbing,” said Sarah Brown, of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. “We had over a decade of progress on a very serious problem, and I worry that we’ve ground to a halt. I think there are a lot of different factors at play, from less use of contraception, maybe because of less fear of AIDS, to our anything-goes culture, where it’s O.K. to get pregnant and have a baby in your teens.[2]”

Without a comprehensive reproductive education and increased access to clinics and services, the teen pregnancy rates in South Carolina will continue to rise, as will the cost to the taxpayer. We need to stand together, and demand better reproductive health policies for the future generations of South Carolinians.

The cost to teens and their babies is as big a concern to me as is the economic cost to the taxpayers. We owe it to future generations to stop this issue at its source and provide the proper education and access to medical services.

[2]Lewin, Tamar; After Long Decline, Teenage Pregnancy Rate Rises; The New York Times; Jan 26, 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/us/27teen.html?emc=eta1

Tell Them is extremely proud to present Susu Johnson of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Susu has served her community in numerous ways, including serving as a Spartanburg City Councilwoman. She has also remained a loyal supporter of her Alma Mater, and is a former Chair of the Converse College Board of Trustees. She is the first woman to serve as both the Campaign Chair and the Board Chair of the United Way of the Piedmont Region. Watch as Susu speaks about the economic impact unintended pregnancies have on the state of South Carolina.