Email inboxes, amirite? Most days, that overflowing behemoth is just too much to deal with. All of those newsletters we subscribe to (ahem and THANK YOU), each wonderful in their own way, do have a tendency to pile up. Then you have the tricky little spammers that sneak through, inspiring a game of Delete Whack-A-Mole. And let’s not forget the smarmy retailers who somehow mysteriously cannot quite seem to unsubscribe you, no matter how many times you click that unsub link.
Before you start looking for the unsub link here, gentle reminder that every now and then, sometimes the inbox actually gives us joy. It delivers a message so uplifting, so gratifying, that it makes all the inbox management headaches worthwhile.
Believe it or not, we’re not talking about when your CODA newsletter arrives (although that’s a pretty sweet occurrence as well).
Let’s call this phenomenon Inbox Delight.
Our president, Ruth Todd, experienced some Inbox Delight earlier this month. Back in April, the Bastrop County Democratic Party chair, Steve Bridges, alerted Ruth about a grant that was being offered by a group called Contest Every Race. Ruth immediately realized the value of the opportunity and applied. It took a couple of months, but in early July she finally got her moment of Inbox Delight and learned CODA’s grant application had been approved. Her hard work completing the application had just paid off. Literally.
Contest Every Race is committed to reducing the number of races where Republicans run uncontested. To that end, they provide funds and training, targeting the rural areas that are often overlooked or ignored by their state party.
This is the first year CER has included Texas in their grant program. According to CER, we are one of only 22 Texas groups approved out of ‘an enormous number of applicants’.
Thanks to Ruth’s efforts, CODA will be receiving more than $3000 in funds between now and November 2024, plus a host of additional free services including live Zoom training, office hours, training materials, and texting.
Steve Bridges was also successful with his application on behalf of the Bastrop County Democratic Party. Thanks to his farsightedness and generosity, we have doubled the amount of resources CER is providing to Bastrop County as we head into 2024.
Congrats to Fayette, Blanco, and Calhoun County Dems, who are also recipients this year.
CODA leadership has already attended some of the onboarding Zooms. It is gratifying to learn we are already doing many of the things CER suggests so that we can meet their requirements for our quarterly funding payout. They’re not asking us to summit Everest, or beat the 4 minute mile. They encourage us to embrace proven strategies like relational outreach, hosting casual events, and putting the fun back into rural activism. Much of what they suggest is in our wheelhouse. CER + CODA = a match made in Dem activist heaven.
If you would like to get involved with our CER efforts, reply to this email or in the comments. That way, we can all experience more moments of Inbox Delight.
Thanks to everyone who came out to our CODA Bingo Night at Bastrop Beer Co. last week. We had a good group! Congrats to Sheri Godwin and Gilbert Zamora, who won big. And an extra special thanks to Sheri, who made a very generous donation to CODA with some of her winnings.
Our next event will be August 19. Stay tuned for details here as well as on our Facebook page. All we will say for now: better start practicing your Poker Face.