Bethlehem Morning Voice Huddle and Bethlehem NY Indivisible are planning a “Big Send” car caravan for Friday, Oct. 16.

The caravan will carry over 27,000 letters written by hundreds of citizen activists from the Capital Region and Upstate New York to potential voters throughout the United States, according to a release from the organizations.

For nearly two years, activists in the Capital District contributed to Vote Forward’s “Big Send” project. “Big Send” letters will be mailed nationwide on the same day to maximize positive voter impact nationwide.

Originally the goal was to write 10 million letters to potential voters across the country. Recently the goal was revised to 15 million. The content of the letters evolved from registering people to vote, to encouraging people to exercise their right to vote, lastly to clarifying voter information for voters in swing states.

On Friday, cars decorated to call attention to their cargo of letters will meet at the Albany County Board of Elections at 260 South Pearl Street, at 12:30 pm. At 1:00 pm the caravan will travel to the postal distribution center at 30 Karner Road, via Madison Avenue, Lark Street and Central Avenue.

“The success of the Vote Forward Project relied on thousands of people writing millions of letters. This group of quiet, unassuming, unsung heroes originally met in houses, churches and libraries, but due to social distancing, continued to write letters at home or at online gatherings,” said facilitator, Felicia Bordick, of Bethlehem Morning Voice Huddle, in the release.

Kate Murray of Bethlehem NY Indivisible added, “I think one of the great values of this effort was that the community was able to reignite activists. The value of community that inspired activists and fueled our souls both before and during the pandemic was amazing.”3