Hi, friend— From co-sponsoring a food drive to celebrating Pride at La Mesa City Hall, Team SJ has been busy staying involved in the community. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks, and an exciting event coming up!

Last week, Sara joined “Good Morning San Diego” to talk about our recent town hall focused on how to stay involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. You can watch the full clip here!

On Juneteenth, we celebrated the freeing of the last enslaved African Americans in 1865, while recognizing the hard work that still remains to build a country where Black lives are honored. Sara commemorated the holiday by attending an Artists 4 Black Lives Protest in Balboa Park.

Sara attended the “Rally for Justice Everywhere” to celebrate the Supreme Court’s DACA ruling and to call for greater protections from elected leaders for DREAMers and undocumented San Diegans.

Sara also marched in a children’s Black Lives Matter protest at Trolley Barn Park. The family-friendly protest helped teach children about racism and how we can stand up against it.

In response to the many protests and heightened civic engagement all across the country, Sara also released a policy plan to prioritize racial justice at the federal level, which she developed in partnership with Black community leaders.

To celebrate Father’s Day, Sara participated in a Father’s Day Food Drive in Lemon Grove, providing free personal protective equipment (PPE) and groceries to the community. The drive was led by Project A.W.A.R.E. Enterprises, San Diego Hip Hop 5k, House of Restoration, Young Black & N’ Business, and other community partners. All in all, the drive helped feed over 400 families in Lemon Grove! Channel 8 covered the drive -- you can watch the full clip here.

While this year’s Pride Month looks a bit different than usual -- without the festivals and parades to celebrate our LGBTQ+ community -- Sara celebrated on Monday as the Pride flag was raised over La Mesa City Hall for the first time.

Looking ahead -- on Tuesday, June 30 at 4:30 PM PT, Team SJ will be hosting another virtual town hall, featuring Sara and two amazing community organizers. The event is titled “Organizing Your Movement” and will focus on turning advocacy into political action. Click here for more information on the event and to register. 

Finally, Tuesday is another quarterly fundraising deadline for our campaign, where we have to report how much money we’ve raised with the FEC. As you know, we stopped fundraising entirely as our communities adjusted to life amid the COVID-19 pandemic -- the health and well-being of our community took priority over any campaign activities or fundraising. We know the crisis is far from over, but if you are in a position to give, any amount is greatly appreciated to help keep Team SJ going strong.

Thanks, as always, for your support!

Team SJ