Volunteer for Obama and earn a chance to attend the national convention in Charlotte

Here’s the press release from Obama for America North Carolina:

Organizing for America North Carolina and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx Announce How North Carolina Supporters Can Attend the Democratic National Convention

Raleigh, NC – This week, Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and Organizing for America North Carolina, President Obama’s grassroots organization, announced the 9-3-1 program for Obama supporters to volunteer for the campaign and earn a guaranteed community credential to attend the President’s acceptance speech at Bank of America Stadium on September 6, the final night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

President Obama and the Democratic National Convention Committee have taken numerous steps to ensure this is the most open and accessible convention in history. Recruiting volunteers through the 9-3-1 program provides the President’s campaign with a massive organizing opportunity to recruit, train and engage more North Carolina volunteers than ever before.

Beginning this week, volunteers are encouraged to visit http://OFA.BO/9-3-1 and sign up to take their pledge and commit to three shifts – totaling nine hours – in order to attend a once in a lifetime opportunity of witnessing the President accept the Democratic party’s nomination during the final night of the convention.

“Since Charlotte was selected as the host city of the Democratic National Convention Committee, President Obama has been committed to creating a convention environment that will engage more Americans and more North Carolinians than ever before,” said Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx. “The convention is more than just political pageantry and speeches; it’s about Americans coming together, involving people across the country at the grassroots level and enlisting them to continue to work for change.”

Greensboro Neighborhood Team Leader (NTL) John Farmer said, “I’ve watched conventions on TV before, we’ve all seen the speeches and the balloon drops. But this movement has always been about more than that. It’s about Americans working together to make change happen. It’s about standing up for a fairer economy, restoring middle class security and making sure that hard work pays. We can only make these things happen at the grassroots level.”

“When I found out that the convention was going to be hosted in the Tar Heel State, I understood how much was at stake across North Carolina,” said Raleigh NTL Ophelia Marcus-Taylor. “I decided to step up and get involved months before Election Day and now I am a Neighborhood Team Leader. I volunteer because I know what having President Obama in the White House means for me and my family. ”

Charlotte NTL Charlye Pearson said, “If 2008 showed us anything, we learned how the power of people in the community can decide an election. In order to win in 2012, we’re going to talk to our friends and neighbors about what President Obama has accomplished and how we can continue to make change happen. We’re going to have to recruit new volunteers, register new voters, knock on doors, make many phone calls and get people out to the polls in November.”

The 2012 Democratic National Convention will stand in stark contrast to Mitt Romney’s convention in Florida. During the GOP convention in Tampa, Mitt Romney and the Republican party will use their convention to cater to special interest groups, wealthy donors and highlight Mitt Romney’s familiar yet troubling economic scheme of outsourcing jobs and more budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy – the same formula that benefitted a few, but crashed our economy and punished the middle class.

The President’s campaign and the Democratic Convention revolve around the central idea of engaging Americans in a conversation about how we can strengthen the country in a way that creates more opportunity for all – standing up for a fairer economy, restoring middle class security, and making sure that hard work pays and everyone plays by the same rules.