To
AAMR Members and Friends
The
Power of One Campaign
Dear AAMR Members and Friends,
The Power of One Campaign is critical to the future
of our Association and to our work in supporting the hopes
and dreams of people with intellectual disabilities. We’d
like to tell you about the Campaign and why we need your personal “power”!
As you know, AAMR is a major leader in disability research,
policy, services, and supports in the United States and throughout
the world. We are active in advancing progressive public policy
and, in fact, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing
the execution of people with mental retardation was one of
our crowning achievements. Our journals, books, and other publications
are rated “tops” in the field. We offer high quality
professional education and training opportunities, while our
state-of-the-art electronic communications has expanded our
influence to all continents. The AAMR volunteers and staff
work hard to accomplish our mission but we are now facing serious
cut backs in programs and services.
Over the last two years, the AAMR, like many other disability
and professional organizations has faced increasing financial
and programmatic challenges. These challenges have resulted
in hard decisions. We have cut 30% of our central office staff,
other staff salaries have been frozen, all non-essential services
have been suspended, and we now focus only on our key priorities.
AAMR leaders and staff have stepped up to help us through this
difficult time by contributing extra hours, adding new responsibilities
to current jobs, and by using personal funds to attend leadership
meetings and other Association events. But even more has to
be done and that is why we are appealing to you to help us
with the Power of One Campaign.
Would you be willing to do one or more of the following?
- Make a contribution to AAMR equivalent to one hour, one
day, one week, or one month of
Pay.
- Contribute one honorarium from a workshop or a consulting
job.
- Buy one gift membership for a young professional.
- Buy one copy of the new classification manual for a young
professional or colleague.
- Give a colleague one AAMR book as a gift.
- Recruit one new member.
- Hold one office or role within a state or regional chapter,
division, or special interest group.
- Write one personalized letter to 10 other people asking
them to support the Campaign.
- Serve as a coordinator for the Campaign in your state,
division, special interest group, or region. (for guidelines
contact: Bill Gaventa, Power of One Campaign Coordinator,
gaventwi@umdnj.edu)
We want you to know that despite all the challenges, the prevailing
spirit at AAMR is one of amazing energy, hopefulness, appreciation
for hard work, and commitment to the Association. All of the
Board members have made a pledge and they are leading other
initiatives to explore new projects and funding sources. Our
goal is 100% member participation in reaching our goal of $100,000.
In closing we would like to remind you that in times of difficulty, we
can become overwhelmed and think that we can do little as individuals.
Or we can believe that our many individual actions, when combined, can
make a HUGE difference. Surely you can name one person with a developmental
disability who has made a huge impact on your life or perhaps you know
of one colleague in AAMR who has done the same. Perhaps, you also have
had that same impact on someone else. Now is a time for each of us to “pitch
in” and make a real difference to our important Association. By
working together, AAMR members and friends can restock our AAMR cupboards
with the financial and personal resources that will sustain and strengthen
our Association. Remember we can move mountains through the Power
of One!
Thank you for your support and if you have any questions,
please contact one of the following Board members: Bill
Gaventa , Sharon Gomez, Frances
Ulrich or Genny Pugh.
Gratefully,
Ann Turnbull, Past President
Doreen Croser, Executive Director
Members of the AAMR Board of Directors and All Association Leadership
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