You expect your candidate to show concern for the afterschool cause—but so do many other activists who pull at your candidate from different directions, fighting for their own interests. Though the facts about afterschool speak for themselves, it is up to you to present this information to your candidate and compel them to care. You can do this through sparking a passion in fellow voters and in the media, since candidates are influenced predominantly by these two groups.

Not only can you tell your candidate that your community cares about afterschool, but you can also show them by joining the Afterschool for All campaign and encouraging others to sign on as well. Afterschool for All is an effort to collect the names of Americans who believe that young people should have access to quality, affordable afterschool programs. Governors, mayors, police chiefs, educators, youth advocates, faith-based organizations, corporate leaders, parents and concerned citizens across the nations have already signed on, lending support to the afterschool movement. Print individual or organization sign up forms to distribute at events. Show these forms to your candidate so that they cannot ignore this concrete measure of support.

Find out where the candidates stand by asking them to sign their names to Afterschool for All.  Ask your state or city leaders to join you in pledging support for universal afterschool by sending them the sign up form. Let them know how much support afterschool has in your community by sending them a list of local supporters.

Remember, you can tailor all of these sample materials to your needs or you can simply use them as reference tools to create your own community statement of support for afterschool.

Check out the Afterschool for All website to see more tools and resources, including sample e-mail invitations that you can send to friends and colleagues, examples of how afterschool providers are using Afterschool for All to raise awareness in their communities, and much more.

Finally, you can ask your supporters to sign the Afterschool Alliance's national petition to ensure that federal funding is not diverted away from aftershcool programs.