Don’t Just Rage—Donate! Your Support Makes Our Work Possible

Update: OVEC’s recently retired Executive Director Janet Keating wrote our year-end appeal, below, before we knew the results of the 2016 election. So, where she says, “However, our work is far from over,” well, ahem, that could now be considered an understatement.

If what is unfolding now at the state and national level has you alternating between rage, despair, and awe at the strength and resolve of forward-thinking people to unify and redouble our efforts, well, then you are not alone. Experience all those feelings, but feed the resolve!

If you’ve been thinking of tapping into the phenomenon dubbed “rage donation,” get small and local with it, and show OVEC some rage-love with a tax-deductible year-end gift. 

As Janet says,”You can feel proud to be a member of such a tenacious, hard-working environmental group.”

We know that OVEC wouldn’t have become such an effective organization without your loyal support! Thank you. We stand ready, together, for 2017.

Dear friend and OVEC supporter,  
You did it! Thanks to your memberships, donations, and volunteerism, your support has brought OVEC to the close of another successful year of activism and hard-won victories. (Check out our newsletters to read up on some of what we accomplished together in 2016.)

You can feel proud to be a member of such a tenacious, hard-working environmental group. I know that OVEC wouldn’t have become such an effective organization without your loyal support, your time, your presence at events and, importantly, your tax-deductible contributions—adding up to victories both small and large. You carried the day in 2016. However, our work is far from over. 

In addition to the coal industry, the well-financed oil and gas industry poses numerous threats to West Virginia’s water, air and land. To confront these dangers, OVEC needs your generous year-end, tax-deductible contribution. Your support insures that OVEC stands with front-line communities to oppose two dueling, climate-wreaking fossil fuels—dirty coal and now, gas. As mountaintop removal continues, please know that OVEC is still working to require coal companies to clean up their toxic messes and bring some measure of justice to communities that they have devastated.

Compounding the destruction, the powerful oil and gas industry is assaulting our landscape with deep shale oil and gas fracking—drill pads, waste pits, water withdrawal and numerous proposed (gigantic!) pipelines. OVEC has joined with other groups across state lines to form the Appalachian Gas Working Group. With your generous additional donation, we can increase multi-state citizen opposition to meet these challenges.

As OVEC’s former executive director, I understand how critical your donations are to OVEC’s future and our environmental success. As a retiree, it’s thrilling to watch as OVEC continues to grow and flourish under Natalie Thompson’s leadership—a strong, committed leader during this time of transition in our state. Little did I know in the early 90s, when I organized my first-ever protest at the State Capitol to block construction of a massive pulp and paper mill, OVEC would become such a formidable voice for the protection of West Virginia’s environment and people. This only happened because you joined and supported OVEC. With your continued investment, OVEC promises to push back against the power structure that gives outside corporations the “right” to pollute our water, land, and air.

If you recently renewed your membership, will you consider an additional tax-deductible gift? Donate here.

As a committed OVEC member, I extend to you all good wishes for a Happy Holiday as well as love, joy, peace and beauty throughout the coming New Year!