Wednesday, March 15, is the official Day-on-the-Hill for United Ways of Tennessee in partnership with Boys and Girls Club of Tennessee, Save the Children, and the Tennessee After school Network. We need you to join us to help us educate our Tennessee State Legislators and make an impact for after school and Tennessee families.
Logistics
First and foremost, please save the date! March 15th will be a collaborative hill day for United Ways of TN (UWTN), TN After school Network (TAN), Boys and Girls Clubs, and Save the Children! We will be meeting on the House floor in the Capitol Building from 9-10:30. Here’s a link to parking options parking near cordell hull building – Google Search. Do leave yourself plenty of time to park, walk, and get through security. To find information on your local legislators, visit http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/Apps/fmlv3/districts.aspx. Please arrive no later than 8:30 a.m. Central so you can get through the security checks in time to reach our destination.
RSVP
Please email Mary Graham (mary.graham@uwtn.org)to let her know who is attending from your area (name, organization,email). We encourage you to come, as well as to recruit/bring staff,volunteers, affinity group members, and partners who are passionate about our issues. We also encourage you to coordinate with neighboring organizations that are coming who share the same legislator(s).
Awards
UWTN and TAN will be providing Legislative Champion awards to Sen.Page Walley and Rep. Mark White for sponsoring our successful Handle with Care legislation last session. If any of these legislators are unable to attend, we will make arrangements for you to deliver them personally at a later time. Boys and Girls Clubs and Save the Children will also have awards, and the final one is for a youth, so please do plan to stay through 10:30 A.M. so all feel appropriately lauded.
Appointments
Schedule your appointments in advance, and please make them for no earlier than 10:45 A.M. so we have a big crowd for awards and photos. You can find contact info for your legislators here Senators – TN General Assembly and here Representatives – TN General Assembly There are lots of new faces this session, so you may also find this link helpful: Find My Legislator – TN General Assembly
Virtual/distanced participation (for adults and kids)
While there will not be a hybrid option for this event, you can support these efforts from a distance if unable to make it in-person. You can send an email with correspondence and materials, schedule a phone visit or zoom, and participate in helping us distribute social media content on Hill Day (social media messaging will come your way on March 6). We also encourage organizations serving children and youth to engage them in the process. Pull up their legislators on screen and share some info about them with the students. Ask them to email their legislators or tag them on social media with a supportive statement about why after school programming matters to them. Last hill day, we had 14 after school programs doing so – even sending legislators videos,cards, and beyond. It’s a great way to engage them in civic responsibility.
Materials
Click Here for "Hill Day Resources"
We will be providing all attendees with leave-behinds/talking points on after school and on the promising futures legislation, which provides scholarships for early childcare. United Way folks will also receive materials on 2-1-1, and B&GC and Save the Children will also have some materials unique to their own organizations’ issues. Mary will circulate UWTN and TAN materials in advance, as well. We encourage you to also bring local materials,especially outcomes, 211 data, etc., as well as “chotchkies” to give your legislators (e.g. a t-shirt, mug or other give away–items that stick around on desks or will be worn or carried around are ideal). We will not have our new ALICE data in time for hill day, but look for information on legislative outreach around that report’s release in April.
Questions/prep
Questions or want a little more support? Mary is here to support you, so please don’t hesitate to reach out.
We look forward to making Day-on-the-Hill 2023 our most effective ever
