The Charlestown Citizens Forum is holding a meeting on October 3rd, 2006, at 7 p.m. at the Grove United Methodist Church in West Chester, Pa., to watch and discuss the film “An Inconvenient Truth.”The Charlestown Citizen Forum includes both an internet blog, which can be easily accessible through the Web site, and monthly meetings to discuss significant issues. In July, the forum discussed the problems with homeland security. Established in April 2005, The Charlestown Citizens Forum is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that helps raise awareness in the community about important issues.
On its Web site, you will initially read their mission statement which states, “We seek to promote civic awareness and participation and to strengthen the local community by bringing together neighbors with diverse points of view in respectful dialogue.” There is a also link that directs you to an issues section which will show the reader all the topics they plan on covering in the future such as energy, the environment, and voting.
The forum’s well developed blog link will take you to a different Web page (http://charlestowncitizens.blogspot.com/). You must subscribe to the Web site to comment on the blog. Many issues are to be discussed on the blog link.
A “Take Action” link pleads with the reader to let yourself be heard expressing that everyone should write a letter to their editor. “Express your concerns and bring these issues to the forefront,” the website reads, “Letters are among the most widely read features of newspapers and can reach a large audience.” It goes on to say that many politicians and elected officials will monitor letters to the editor proving that it is a way of getting our word to them.
If you are interested in writing a letter to the editor of any newspaper, simply include your name, address, and daytime phone number. There are many papers that will take your letters and the Web site offers a few, such as The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily Local News, and The Phoenix.
The Web site also has a link asking people to contribute to their cause. They are a non profit organization, but will still take generous contributions to help their forum get bigger and better. Their brochure admits they are still in “infancy” but are growing in membership as interest increases.
Note: For more information, visit http://www.charlestowncitizensforum.org/.