Dear Supporter:

Fluoride Action Network Fundraising Update

Yesterday we received $1,527 before an offer by a long-time FAN supporter to double the amount received up to $1,500. This resulted in the receipt of $3,027, bringing our total to $4,957 from 37 donors. Thank you all so very much!

We depend on your generosity in these hard times to help us raise $150,000 this month for FAN’s 2015 operating budget. Can we do it?

To make a tax-deductible donation you can either:

•    Donate by using our secure online server, or

•    Donate by check (payable to Fluoride Action Network) and send to: FAN, 104 Walnut Street, Binghamton NY 13905

There are several gifts available at different donation levels.

WORLDWIDE ALLIANCE TO END FLUORIDATION

This year we launched a new coalition called the Worldwide Alliance to End Fluoridation. This was open to any group of citizens organized to end fluoridation (not individuals).

“Over the last 18 years I have had the great privilege of visiting many of the communities and individuals working to end – or prevent – fluoridation in their communities. I can state without hesitation that we have a fantastic worldwide movement of people fighting this unethical and reckless practice. But for many citizens, decision-makers and the media this movement is invisible beyond local actions, which are often marginalized. Thus starting now we would like to make this movement more visible by forming the Worldwide Alliance to End Fluoridation.”

We asked groups throughout the world to sign onto the following membership statement:

The following groups working to end water fluoridation in their local communities, states or countries, are uniting to end fluoridation worldwide. By uniting in this way we will show to the public, the media and decision makers the depth and breadth of this movement across the world. While hugely outspent by government agencies, the dental lobby and industrial interests, local groups opposing this practice are securing important victories largely because the science and the ethics are on our side (see the supporting document). We need to share these local victories and give moral and practical support to those still struggling. Working together we have a better chance to defeat this practice worldwide. We will win – one open mind at a time – because:

Water fluoridation is unethical, unnatural, unsafe, unproven and unnecessary. 

The Reaction

There was an overwhelming response to our formation of the alliance, with over 130 founding member groups signing-on, representing 12 countries, 28 U.S. States and 6 Canadian Provinces, with more being formed on a weekly basis.

See Full Alliance List

Why Create an Alliance

• Increase visibility of all fluoride-free campaigns. Most everyone fighting fluoridation schemes knows that it is too easy to become overwhelmed by the forces and money we are up against. The Alliance will be there to strengthen us as these times. We are all part of a team, working for safer drinking water and healthier communities infused with the desire for informed decision-making.

• Increase activism through FAN’s promotion of the list. We get many emails on a daily basis from people interested in starting or joining a local or statewide campaign to end fluoridation. With the World Alliance list it’s now much easier to connect supporters with a group in their area. Our hope is that every time FAN shares the list in our bulletins, press releases, and social media posts, citizens from around the world will see it and contact the closest group(s) to help the campaign.

•  Increase cooperation and communication between alliance members. The list allows supporters to see who else is campaigning in their state and region, which creates an opportunity for groups to work together; for example, on state-level legislation. We urge members to take advantage of this network and work together. Visit the websites of other campaigns to study what they’re doing, then bring those strategies to your community.

The Next Step

We plan on building and promoting the alliance further, adding more groups on a weekly basis and increasing FAN’s communication with all of you to share resources and suggestions, action alerts, and campaign tools and materials. Our ultimate goal is to create a support network throughout the world that is strong enough to end the practice of fluoridation forever. We can accomplish this if we work together.

If you aren’t a member of a fluoride-free campaign, please look at our alliance list and contact a group in your area to offer your support. If you are an individual concerned about this practice and a group does not exist in your community, we suggest you start a campaign with friends and colleagues. Please visit our Take Action guide and our Infant Warning campaign page for info on how to initiate your own campaign.

If you are part of a fluoride-free campaign group that isn’t on the list, please consider joining.

Joining the Alliance

Joining this Alliance imposes no new obligations on you. Please carry on with what you are doing – but with the knowledge that you will be visibly part of a larger globalmovement. FAN will continue to do everything we can to help you in your local efforts especially via our webpage FluorideAlert.org.

Signing onto the Alliance statement makes you a member and entitles you to add the statement Member of the Worldwide Alliance to End Fluoridation at the end of your letterhead and leaflets.

Other than this we request that you do not make any statement in the name of the Alliance. All the statements and activities you organize you should do only in your group’s name. However, from time to time we at FAN might circulate some suggested action or statement that your group may choose to join or endorse.

To sign-on to the alliance, just email your groups name, location, the name of a contact, and the contact information, including website address and links to social media sites to stuart@fluoridealert.org . In the subject box please write, “Joining the World Alliance.”