Actions you can take

Ways to support immigrant communities

• Distribute food to homes, Tuesdays in Northern Virginia with Food Justice DMV. Vetting is required, orientation provided. Volunteers can also collect goods, such as beans, rice, diapers, and formula (from neighbors and friends) to drop off at a local collection center. Sign up here.
• Join New Virginia Majority Solidarity to learn skills to stand with immigrant neighbors. Actions include ICE Watch trainings, political education and mutual aid. Sign up here.

Ways to support voting rights and protect elections

In-person early voting starts Sept. 18! (Follow that link to learn more.) Join Indivisible Do Something Alexandria as we create artwork and hand out flyers to get voters up to speed and to the polls for Election Day on Nov. 3:

• Spread the word about proposed amendments, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., near City Hall. We'll provide volunteers the info and handouts so you can inform community members headed to the farmers market. Sign up here.
• Craftivism: Get ready to get out the vote, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2-4 p.m., Ellen Coolidge Burke library. We'll make posters, zines, buttons, bracelets and more to inform and inspire people to vote. We provide the supplies, you bring the ideas! Sign up here.
• Greet commuters, share voting information starting mid-September, Mondays and Wednesdays: Sign up here for the King Street Metro Station, Mondays, 4-6 p.m. Sign up here for the Braddock Metro Station, Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m.

Dial in to Indivisible National's election kickoff call, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 8-9 p.m. ET., virtual. Learn how you can take part in flipping Congress and holding the administration accountable. Sign up here.

Be a poll worker. Officers of Election, also known as poll workers, help the election run smoothly during early voting and on Election Day. Roles are based on the needs and staff availability in your location. Learn more and sign up here.

Revisit Indivisible's Election Protection two-part training. Indivisible National has posted recordings of its two Hands Off Our Vote sessions outlining strategies to help the public support fair elections. Here are links to the recording and the slides for the Aug. 19 session; and to the recordings and slides for the Aug. 27 follow-up.

Canvass for Sen. Mark Warner, Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 1, multiple times. Location of meetups will be provided when you register. Sign up here.

Coming up:

Knock on doors for Shannon Taylor, Saturday, Sept. 19, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Taylor is running to represent VA-1 in the U.S. House: Meet at John Carlyle Square for a bus ride to Ashland to flip this GOP seat to blue. Sign up here.

Ways to support civil liberties

• Learn more about license plate readers. The Alexandria Brief reports on local uses of automatic license plate readers, which advocates say amount to mass surveillance. Communities in Virginia are fighting back. Check your own license plate at Have I Been Flocked?, and find out where Flock cameras are in the state at as reported by the OpenStreetMap community.

Other resistance activities

• Social Bank with Swing Left, Thursdays, 7-8 p.m. ET, virtual. Like a phone bank, a social bank has volunteers gathering virtually to spend an hour engaging with pro-Democratic content on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). Sign up here.

Coming up:

• History, Power, and the Fight Ahead: A Conversation With Ken Burns, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 8-9 p.m. ET, virtual. Movement Voter Project invites historian Ken Burns and MVP's Jillian Johnson to review the historic challenges facing our democracy and the role grassroots movements have played in expanding and protecting it. Sign up here.

General: Trainings, meetings

• Phone bank with Ground Truth, Wednesdays, 6-9 p.m. ET and Sundays, 2-5 p.m. ET. Training is included in this virtual phone bank that has volunteers calling all types of voters to ask questions and listen deeply to voters' concerns. (See recent coverage in the NY Times.) Sign up here.
• Ground Truth Civic Action Follow-Up Letters. In this pilot campaign, Vote Forward asks volunteers to attend a virtual training then write letters to voters who opened their doors to have conversations with Swing Left interviewers (see above). Sign up here.