I want to take a minute to tell you what our team is doing right now. We’re knocking doors and talking to people in Western NC. Actually, we’re mostly listening -- asking what matters most to people and then just listening.

This is happening because of your support. We asked you to help us build toward our first Day of Action and you stepped up. That means our team -- me, our staff, our incredible interns (who I’ll tell you about in a second), and an amazing crew of leaders -- has clipboards, masks, literature and, yes, snacks.

Door knocking. Phone banking. Texting. Writing postcards. Organizing early, often, and everywhere to build the largest grassroots campaign we’ve seen in Western NC. Because that’s exactly what it’s going to take to defeat Cawthorn and deliver the kind of leadership our community needs and deserves.

August in the year BEFORE an election is not a typical time to be launching this kind of organizing effort. In fact, I was warned that this time is notoriously slow, for fundraising and any kind of engagement.

I’ve said from the start that we’ll be real with you -- about the good news, what’s happening under the hood of the campaign, and the challenges we face.

So let me tell you what we’re seeing. First, engagement and momentum are high. Today we’re out organizing with an incredible crew of volunteers -- knocking on doors and making phone calls in every corner of the district.

But we are also seeing a summer dip in our fundraising numbers:

• Our total raised for July was 36% less than June.
• We received 30% fewer email donations in July than June.
• Our average email contribution this month is 19% lower than last month.

This slump is a real challenge, and we need your help to pull out of it.

We're already halfway through the quarter and we need to catch up to hit our FEC fundraising goal next month. So I’m asking: can I count on you to chip in $5, $25, or any amount today?

We need to raise another $9,500 in the next three days. It sounds like a lot, but we know we can get there with a lot of people like you chipping in a few bucks at a time.

Right now, the average ActBlue contribution to our campaign is just $23 -- but we’ve proven that by bringing people together, we can raise the funds to compete with Madison Cawthorn’s GOP mega-donors and run a winning campaign here in NC-11.

There’s so much power in a grassroots campaign. I was reminded of that this past week, as our incredible student intern team -- Gabe, Madi, and Saila -- logged long hours getting ready for our Day of Action. They’re spending their summer working on our campaign because they know exactly what’s at stake in this race. They motivate me and remind me every day exactly why I’m running.

So while we’re out there knocking doors today, will you take a minute and chip in any amount to show that you believe in the power of organizing too?

We can’t do this with you. With you, we can.

-- Jasmine