For A Summit Mother And Daughter, Voter Education Starts At Home

SUMMIT, NJ — Like many parents, Tracy Keegan is always mindful of the kind of world her three daughters grow up in and how vital election results can be in determining what that world looks like. But as someone who has been active in spreading the word about the importance of voting, Keegan also wanted to make sure her daughters are involved in spreading such a vital message.

For Keegan, the co-founder of the locally-based activist group, Summit Marches On, the grassroots effort started at home. Last week, the not-for-profit organization sent out nearly 18,500 letters and 3,000 postcards to voters in battleground states reminding residents in those states to cast their ballots. For Keegan’s daughter, Katie – a freshman at the University of Delaware – the excitement of voting in her first election in November was part of the motivation to get in on the action of helping with the massive mailing campaign.

As part of a national effort called The Big Send organized by another not-for-profit, Vote Forward, the mother and daughter team led a local campaign to inform as many battleground state voters to get be active in the days leading up to election day.

“In a time of so much turmoil and division, compounded by the isolation of the pandemic, people really responded to the idea that they could reach out to their fellow Americans in such a personal way,” Tracy Keegan said. “As a mom of three daughters, I, like most parents, want to ensure that the world my children inherit is better than the one I grew up in. And right now? That future is uncertain.”

In January, Summit Marches On began distributing voter packets to its members that included everything volunteers would need to write letters to voters in battleground states, encouraging their participation in the voting process. For Katie Keegan, who has been at home for long stretches of time because of the coronavirus pandemic, getting involved including help her mother stamping a few letters and helping to get more than 1,500 local voters registered in an effort earlier this year. By September, she was mailing out mailer packets by the dozens each day to make sure voters were getting a clear message that their voice matters come November.

Katie Keegan balanced the mailing effort with other community projects she has become involved in because of the on-going pandemic. But as she prepares to vote for the first time herself in the November election, she realized how important targeting voters in key states was in helping shape her future.

“Being part of the work my mom and Summit Marches On have been doing for the last three years makes me feel like I am actually doing something to help people who have been marginalized since (President Donald) Trump took office,” said Katie Keegan, who, along with her mother have addressed and sent out thousands of letters as the election has drawn closer. “This experience showed me that like-minded people working toward the same goal can make a big difference."

Summit Marches On was formed in the days following the Women’s March on Washington in 2017 and has incorporated a large army of female volunteers to help drive their messaging. With the Keegan household serving as campaign headquarters for the mail-driven effort, Katie and Tracy Keegan oversaw the communication between themselves and their volunteers in states like Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania – all of which played a key role in Trump’s election in 2016. Now, four years later, the local group is continuing to send out the letters and postcards that have been stored in Keegan’s dining room and distributed off of her front stoop before the mass mailing took place last week.

In addition, the group has hosted local events, has raised funds for members of marginalized communities, organized local protests to demand Trump’s impeachment and held a candlelight vigil following the recent death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Yet, the group’s work continues.

“We are giving this election everything we’ve got,” Lacey Cotter-Rzeszowski, co-founder of Summit Marches On said. “While the letter writing efforts have come to a close, we are not done.

The community has taken notice, according to organization officials. According to Summit Marches On treasurer Terry Tauber, the group’s membership has doubled this year and more than 300 of the group’s 900 members has volunteered to help with the mailing effort, has donated money to the group or both.

“Being a part of this effort gave me an outlet to channel my frustration with our current administration by doing something productive,” Summit Marches On board member Amanda Greenblatt said. “In addition to writing letters, I tried to harness the good of social media to get people motivated to be a part of the solution. Urging people to pop over and pick up packets to write letters or donate for postage, was empowering for all of us. We don't want anyone to wake up on November 4th thinking ‘what could I have done?’"