We have three goals for this year that deserve your support:
- Building our organizational capacity
- Making a coordinated public education and legislative push for rail
- Starting volunteer programs to market and improve the rail experience
Each of these goals builds upon the success of this year.
We began the year working to keep train service to Rutland. By May we had shifted the discussion: elected leaders and on-line Chamber of Commerce's were calling for the train to be extended to Burlington. Our education outreach regarding the potential of the train worked.
This year our mailing list grew from 2,000 to 3,400. Donations doubled. We have new relationships and alliances in the community. We showed up at meetings and gave speeches. We have new relationships with legislators and new relationships with reporters. More than 50 came to our first ever annual meeting in Rutland on September 30th, 2009 at South Station Restaurant and we gave our Jim Jefford's Rail Advocate of the Year Award to Jeff Munger and Herb Ogden Volunteer Award to Herb Russell.
That's a good start for a young organization.
Now it's time to go to the next level. We need to invest in our mailing list, our fundraising capacity. Our shared goals depend upon communication and that requires time.
Our outreach campaign will begin with a stakeholder's meeting in February, bringing together diverse organizations from all over Vermont behind the cause of rail and its environmental and economic benefits. There is power in numbers.
We feel it is very important to be making our own contribution to the success of rail service. If we can increase passenger train ridership and revenue, the system will be more sustainable.
Following the successful model of Trainriders/Northeast in Maine, we'd like to organize local volunteers to welcome and help passengers at stations and on the trains and promote trains in their own towns. Perhaps you'd like to be one?
Our vision is to have local committees of rail supporters promoting the train and looking after facilities and service, from planting flowers at the station to getting timetables in the library to making a float for the parade.
If you believe that railroads are important to Vermont, then please contribute today
Thank You
Christopher Parker, Executive Director
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