How campaigns can help during the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the last few weeks, we have seen some drastic changes in the way campaigns operate due to new public health guidelines and policies regarding COVID-19. Many have been altering their plans to better help their community and neighbors, whether through aiding vulnerable populations or socially distancing. Our commitment to you is to spread useful resources and ideas across Bluebonnet's nationwide campaign network, which is why we want to share some ideas from partner campaigns that could be helpful to your district. 

Julie Oliver's team in Texas 25 compiled a resource guide that broke down state, federal, and local guidelines. The guide also sorts information by category, including small business, healthcare, food, veterans, and unemployment.

Chloe Maxmin's Maine State Senate District 13 campaign team has committed to running phone banks, organizing their volunteer base over social media, and sharing relevant information online to help inform the public and deliver essential resources to people in their area. The Bluebonnet team also built an interactive map for constituents to find grocery stores and essential resources, focusing in particular on sharing this information with seniors in the district. 

This sort of action can be taken using the tools that you already have, including VAN and Census data. If you're interested in learning more, Canyon Woodward, campaign manager for the Maine team, has volunteered to share additional information on his team's efforts. 

Tech Yourself posted a guide to virtual campaigning that can be used to structure outreach and engagement plans during this time. We would also highly recommend this guide to service, projects, and resources that was recently shared by a Bluebonnet fellow. Lastly, if you have an idea worth sharing on how to help as a campaign, please let us know! We would love to share it with our network and spread the impact of positive (and safe) actions during such a critical time.