• Many APhA-ASP members are familiar with the annual
“Winter is Cold, but Advocacy is Hot” Political Action
Committee (PAC) fundraiser
• The purpose of the APhA-PAC’s is to support candidates
for federal office who have demonstrated support for
pharmacy issues
• The PAC is a voluntary association of APhA members
who share political objectives and pool their resources
to increase the impact of their contributions to
candidates who support the profession
• This year, the PAC fundraiser campaign gets a makeover with
a new name and fresh logo
• Your chapter can have a hand in choosing the new name by
visiting http://fs8.formsite.com/APhAASP/PACName/index.html and voting for one of the
following:
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5.
6.
•
Back the PAC
Change Challenge
Conquer the Capitol
PAC It Up- PAC It In
Power up the PAC
Propel the PAC
Voting ends 11/25 at 11:59pm PST
• This year’s fundraising campaign will run from 12/1/13 –
3/1/14
• Get involved in some of the following ways:
– Play a pharmacy trivia game or “Pharmacy Law Quiz Bowl” and
require a donation to participate. Offer prizes to enhance
participation
– Host a “State of the Union Address Party” with refreshments
and charge a small fee to attend
– Raffle tickets to the APhA Political Leadership Reception at the
Annual Meeting
– Hold “Pizza and Policy” evening and ask members for a small
admission fee
• Throughout 2013, achieving provider status for
pharmacists has been the at the forefront of APhA’s
advocacy efforts
• APhA has pledged $1.5 million to accomplish this goal
and has partnered with a number of other national
pharmacy organizations to develop a shared vision and
plan for achieving provider status
• Student members of APhA-ASP have actively
contributed to this advocacy movement by participating
in the Policy Postcard Challenge, attending legislative
days, and coordinating letter writing campaigns
• In your advocacy efforts
there may be times when
you have only a few
seconds to communicate
the idea and importance
of this issue
• In these cases, a preprepared “elevator pitch”
can be invaluable in
concisely communicating
your point
• As a student pharmacist, you can help to achieve
provider status in the following ways:
1. Participate in an Academy-wide Facebook campaign
promoting provider status
2. Attend webinars throughout the year related to provider
status
3. Compete in the APhA-ASP Policy Postcard Challenge! An
overview of the challenge and all necessary documents can
be found at the following link:
http://www.pharmacist.com/apha-asp-policy-postcardchallenge
• With the Policy Postcard Challenge in
full swing, it is not too late to print out
those postcards and advocate for our
profession
• The reporting period for the challenge
is October 1, 2013 – March 1, 2014
• The postcard template and procedures
and guidelines for the challenge can be
accessed at:
http://www.pharmacist.com/aphaasp-policy-postcard-challenge
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If my chapter has been using our own postcard template before the reporting period
began, can we count those postcards towards the challenge?
Unfortunately, we would not be able to count it for the Challenge. It would not be fair to
allow postcards sent prior to the reporting period to count towards your chapter’s total.
Can our chapter modify the postcard template?
In regards to the front, APhA-ASP requests that the front of the postcard be printed in color
and not be edited in any way. In regards to the back, APhA-ASP requests that the back of
the postcard no be edited other than adding your chapter, university, school, or college of
pharmacy logo in the section to the right of the APhA logo.
What if the patient doesn’t feel comfortable leaving their name and full address?
Explain to the patient that it is better to have their complete information so that the
legislator the postcard is sent to knows that it is coming from a constituent, and assure
him/her that this information will only be used for the purpose of mailing the postcard. If
the patient still does not wish to include their complete information, ask for their zip code
as this is the minimum amount of information required to identify the patient’s legislators
and mail the postcard.