Mr. Rogers Said To Look For the Helpers. On International Volunteer Day 2024, We’re Looking At You

December 5 marks International Volunteer Day, a time to celebrate the efforts of volunteers across communities, countries, and the world.

On International Volunteer Day 2024, we acknowledge the tireless efforts of Moms Demand Action volunteers who show up day after day, fighting to make their communities safer. We know that the 2024 election results at the top of the ticket were not what we had worked so hard for. But we did make a positive impact in the 2024 elections, sweeping 3,300 Gun Sense Candidates to victory, including hundreds of our own volunteers.

While we know the next four years are sure to bring challenges, we’re determined to keep doing this life-saving work. And we’re reminded of the sage advice Mr. Rogers gave in times of uncertainty: “always look for the helpers.” So today, we’re looking at you.

“This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.”

—Vice President Kamala Harris, 11/06/2024

Together, volunteers with Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, and the Gun Sense Action Network made over 12 million voter contacts this election cycle. Those phone calls, text messages, door knocks, postcards, and conversations were not in vain. Thanks to your work, thousands of Gun Sense Candidates up and down the ballot were elected to office.

Candidates like Rep. Sarah McBride from Delaware, who will serve as the first openly transgender U.S. Congressional Representative. Candidates like gun violence survivors Shaundelle Brooks and Lucy McBath, who have turned their pain and anger after their sons were killed into purpose and action. Candidates like Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks, who made history: for the first time, there will be two Black women in the U.S. Senate!

Leaders at the local, state, and federal levels are ready to fight to protect our families and communities from gun violence. And many of them are in office thanks to volunteers like you.

Your stories from this election cycle are incredible

You crossed state lines to be each other’s “Gun Sense Neighbors,” partnering to phonebank and knock on doors for Gun Sense Candidates.

The Moms Demand Action chapters in Alabama and Georgia joined forces and held a weekly phonebank to Get Out the Vote for the Harris-Walz ticket. Illinois volunteers tag-teamed with their Wisconsin counterparts to canvass. At one point, there were so many volunteers door-knocking in one location that they ran out of turf to cover! And out West, volunteers from California, Nevada, and Oregon held several “Tri-State area phonebanks”—and during one, made 1,253 dials in one hour.

New Mexico volunteers Rita and Linda crossed state lines to get out the vote for Kamala Harris. And Virginia volunteers made the trek to Washington, D.C., to turn out for a Harris-Walz rally.

You spent hundreds of hours canvassing, phonebanking, and sending postcards encouraging voters to support Gun Sense Candidates.

Volunteers in Iowa went door-to-door and made dials to educate voters about candidates up and down the ballot.

A bipartisan group of volunteers turned out in Raleigh, North Carolina, to get out the vote for the Harris-Walz ticket. Other North Carolina volunteers who showed up to canvass got a special surprise when singer-songwriter James Taylor (yes, that one!) showed up to knock doors with them. And Cleveland, Ohio, knocked it out of the park when they met a Cleveland Guardian for gun sense while canvassing.

Our Nebraska volunteers wrote postcards to voters to educate them about Gun Sense Candidates. During a fall Weekend of Action, volunteers in Las Vegas, Nevada, turned out to learn how to phonebank and use our Gun Sense Voter website to look up their Gun Sense Candidates. And in Ohio, 70 volunteers joined a postcard party for Senator Sherrod Brown—including Edna, a 97-year-old volunteer!

A small but mighty group of volunteers in Texas turned out for a bilingual phonebank. In just two hours, that crew made over 3,300 dials for Gun Sense Candidates! Volunteers across the Midwest brought energy and excitement to their October “Phone-o-ween” phonebank. Our Tucson volunteers in Arizona showed some serious Southwest energy while canvassing and phonebanking during a Weekend of Action. And while door-knocking can feel intimidating, our Chattanooga, Tennessee, Moms Demand Action crew weren’t “scaredy cats” while they were canvassing for Gun Sense Candidates!

Oregon volunteers canvassed for Gun Sense Candidates—and helped flip a key House seat!—throughout the fall, and brought along some cuddly buddies for Harris-Walz for good measure. And a little rain couldn’t wash away the enthusiasm of our Arkansas volunteers getting out the vote!

You reminded us that gun violence prevention can be a family matter.

In New Mexico, a mom-and-daughter duo knocked on doors alongside their Gun Sense Candidates to get out the vote. When a Kansas volunteer broke her leg and couldn’t walk between doors to canvass, she brought her whole family along to hand out yard signs for Gun Sense Candidates. In Reno, Nevada, one mom made sure her “future gun sense voter” saw how election action is done. And when the Local Rural Group Manager in Ohio was the only Moms Demand Action volunteer in her county, her husband came along to canvass with her.

In Kansas, a husband-and-wife duo took to dirt roads and passed by cornfields to get out the vote, one door and one conversation at a time. There’s rural canvassing, and then there’s rural canvassing!

And voters like you made your voices heard at the ballot box.

Survivors of gun violence in Massachusetts showed up to the polls—and wore their “I Voted” stickers with pride.

In Virginia, volunteers gathered to “vote together and stand out” in their red tees, proving Moms are everywhere! And in Florida, one stand-out local group lead (and first-time voter) made sure to show off her enthusiasm for voting for Gun Sense Candidates.

One volunteer in Ohio volunteered to hand out slates at her polling place—and she even helped drive voters who needed transportation to the polls!

The stories here are just a snapshot of the hundreds of hours that volunteers across the country put into “Get Out the Vote” efforts. During election season and year-round, Moms Demand Action volunteers truly are everywhere—even in The New York Times crossword!

Thank You For Being in This Fight

The brighter future we’re fighting for is still possible—but it’s going to take all of us fighting for it, together. As we confront a second Trump Administration, our resolve and commitment to building a gun violence-free future is more important than ever. Do your part by joining a Moms Demand Action chapter near you.