Today is a very proud day for HeadCount.
Wilco and Patagonia - a band and brand that we all hold in the highest esteem - announced a partnership that directly supports our voter registration work.
Every four years, Patagonia runs a campaign called, "Vote the Environment", that has a variety of elements, including artists. This year, Wilco is the primary partner. Here is what it involves:
- A HeadCount booth and Vote the Environment Booth at pretty much every North American Wilco show
-A Twitter campaign around the hashtag #becauseilove. People will be encouraged to tweet messages and images that complete the sentence “I vote the environment because I love …” and the tweets will be displayed in real-time at Wilco shows.
- Wilco has donated an exclusive version of their song, “Whole Love”. 100% of the proceeds from the sale benefit HeadCount. Click here to purchase.
- Patagonia has designed a special edition tee (featured below) that celebrates Wilco's and Patagonia’s support of HeadCount. Five dollars from each sale will be donated to HeadCount. Click here to purchase.
Here's how Wilco's, Jeff Tweedy, put things:
“Given the current state of American politics, it’s easy to see why people become disillusioned and don’t participate in the system. But my hope and my reason for this partnership with Patagonia, is to remind people that they do have a voice, and voting is an effective and undeniable way to be heard. "
Patagonia has also given a generous grant to HeadCount, which enables us to send dedicated organizers on the road with Wilco all summer. On top of that, they have invited us to be their featured non-profit partner at this summer's Outdoor Retailer trade show.
We are very lucky and grateful to receive all of this support. We are proud to say that it builds on the longstanding relationship we have with both Patagonia and Wilco. Our first registered voters at a Wilco show was during the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2004 and work with Patagonia began with the Jack Johnson tour in 2008.
This sort of partnership is what we hope will be a model for the future. When socially-conscious artists, organizations, and companies all work toward a common goal, there is nothing we can't accomplish. Voter registration is just the beginning.