[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens at Chicago convention to gather, donate items to homeless shelters

[Green Party of California Updates]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008



Greens at the Chicago convention, July 10-13, to collect and donate items to
homeless shelters

• Media credentialing page for the Green National Convention:
http://www.gp.org/forms/media
Updated convention information and schedule:
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=68
Convention press kit: http://www.gp.org/committees/media/kit.shtml
General information on the convention: http://www.greenparty2008.org
Green Presidential Candidates: http://www.gp.org/committees/pcsc/index.shtml


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party members attending the Green National
Convention in Chicago, July 10-13, will bring donations for area shelters.

The collection is a project organized by Pat LaMarche, the Green Party's
vice presidential nominee in 2004.  During her 2004 campaign, Ms. LaMarche,
who ran with presidential nominee David Cobb, went on a two-week cross
country tour of urban homeless shelters, staying overnight at many of them
or sleeping along side the homeless in the street in an effort to bring
attention to veterans issues, the need for a living wage, affordable
housing, and universal access to health care.

"I would like for folks with less agreeable resting places for their heads
to know that Greens came to town and that we did not forget them," said Ms.
LaMarche, who wrote a book about her 2004 experiences, 'Left Out in America,
the State of Homelessness in the United States' (Portland, Maine:
upalaPress, 2006).

"The last time I stayed in Chicago was in 2004 at a shelter for women and
their children.  There's a big difference between where I'll be staying this
time and where the homeless folks like the ones I met last time will be
staying," added Ms. LaMarche.

Ms. LaMarche has already contacted food suppliers in her home state of
Maine.  Wyman's Blueberries of Cherryfield, Maine, has led the way by
committing donations of canned berries to the shelter in Chicago.  Greens
from around the country who will not be attending the convention have begun
food drives to support their local shelters in solidarity with the
collection efforts in Chicago, with satellite shelter drives confirmed in
Utah, Pennsylvania, and Maine.

"As in the 'Left Out' tour we undertook in 2004, we want to bring the plight
of the poor and the need to restore the social safety net into the election
year debate," said Ms. LaMarche.  "The Green Party calls adequate housing
and health care a human right.  As our economy falters, as this winter's
heating costs soar, as the gap between the rich and the poor grows ever
wider, and as our middle class recedes to join the ranks of the poor, it is
no less important today than four years ago that we focus on the issues of
poverty."

Pat LaMarche can be reached at 207-671-0190.

During the convention, hundreds of delegates from Green Parties in nearly
every state will choose the Green nominees for President and Vice President
of the United States.  The nomination process will take place on Saturday,
July 12, at the Chicago Symphony Center.

The four candidates -- Jesse Johnson, Cynthia McKinney, Kent Mesplay, and
Kat Swift -- will participate in a forum Friday, July 11, at the Palmer
House Hilton beginning at 7 pm.  Other candidates, including Green
congressional hopefuls, will be featured during press conferences and other
events throughout the weekend.


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• 2008 Green National Convention: Live Green, Vote Green
http://www.greenparty2008.org
• Media credentialing http://www.gp.org/forms/media
• Video of Green presidential candidates
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/presidential-videos.php
• Links to Green Presidential Candidates' web sites
http://www.gp.org/committees/pcsc/index.shtml
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections


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