Hello fellow MNA members. My name is Peter, and I am a volunteer for MNA’s phonebanks.
What does that mean? I spend about three hours a week going down to the MNA office to make calls to other MNA members. I do this with several other nurses and our goal is to reach out to membership with an important message. Currently, that message is the importance of the upcoming midterm elections on November 8 and how it affects nursing. Most importantly, please get out there and vote!
Now that you know what I do, I have to be completely honest with you—it’s the last thing I ever thought I would be doing! I don’t normally like calling people out of the blue and I don’t usually answer numbers I don’t recognize. So how did I get here? Rutabagas!
Seriously. I was on my way to the world-famous rutabaga festival in Wisconsin two months ago. My phone rang in the car (hands-free, fellow trauma nurses). Remember when I said I don’t pick up phone numbers I don’t recognize? Well, I took the call! It was a nurse named Rachel calling from MNA. It was a great chat, obviously, since a week later, I was sitting in a chair calling other nurses about the importance of voting.
It really has been a great experience! I’ve met so many wonderful people, including the other nurses working with me as well as a great cast of characters in the phonebank room who run the show. This includes Steve, Aaron, Cameron, and Zach, all of whom have been encouraging, supportive, and providers of good snacks!
The best part has been the opportunity to meet so many of you out there on the other end of the phone. So many good stories, laughs, and an opportunity to share your stories. What a great group of people we have in Minnesota, out there doing the good work and under such difficult challenges. Thank you. And if any of you were interested in volunteering, check in with MNA…it’s well worth it!
To volunteer at a phonebank or door knock for the upcoming elections, please visit https://nursescarenursesvote.com/get-involved/.
