Orlando, Florida – Linking education to action, VAMOS4PR Florida, a network of 30 community, faith, voting rights and labor groups working with Central Florida’s Puerto Rican communities, will educate local voters on how their vote in Florida can make positive change for Puerto Rico at a community forum on Saturday, the first day of statewide in-person early voting.
The event, called “Voz y Voto,” culminates with participants taking action by voting at the center hosting the event, which is an early voting polling site, and by working to get others to vote between now and the November 8 elections.
WHO: Mary Kay Henry, President, SEIU
Shirley Aldebol, Vice President, SEIU 32BJ
Esteban Garces, Mi Familia Vota
Denise Diaz, Trabajos con Justicia/Jobs with Justice
Representatives from Maestros en Acción and other VAMOS4PR Florida partner organizations
Newly arrived and long-time Central Florida Puerto Rican residents
WHAT: The VAMOS4PR Florida coalition hosts a voter education and mobilization event aimed at long-time and recent Puerto Rican arrivals in Central Florida, to connect how voting in Florida can help working families in Puerto Rico.
WHEN: TOMORROW SATURDAY, October 29, 11 am
WHERE: ACACIA Centro Borinqueño, 1865 N Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando, FL 32817
WHY: The humanitarian crisis caused by Puerto Rico’s $72 public debt has driven tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans to leave the island, and many have landed in Central Florida, helping to increase the state’s Puerto Rican population to more than a million. This makes them a powerful voting bloc in an important battleground state for the November 8 elections. Because voters in Puerto Rico cannot vote for president and have no Congressional representation, they can have the most direct impact on what happens on the island as Florida voters.
This is why community, faith, voting rights and labor groups concerned about what is happening on the island and about conditions for the Puerto Rican community in Central Florida have joined together under VAMOS4PR Florida to amplify the voice, vote and power of the Puerto Rican community during these elections and beyond.
In this major educational and mobilization event, participants will hear from community leaders and recent arrivals about what is currently happening on the island, who has the power to decide what happens to Puerto Ricans on the island and in Central Florida, and how they can influence them before and after November 8. They will then go vote in the same location, which is an early voting site, and immediately work to get others to vote.
VAMOS4PR Florida is a chapter of the national VAMOS4PR network, formed in February to win debt restructuring for Puerto Rico, defend and expand worker rights, advance a long-term economic development plan for the island, and educate and mobilize Puerto Ricans in the diaspora and their allies to making Puerto Rico’s situation a priority for decision makers.
VAMOS4PR is a network of labor, community, cultural and human rights organizations and individuals who live and work in the US mainland and fight for a fair economy for all Puerto Ricans. For a full list of organizations visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Vamos4PR2/