- November 22, 2024
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The Volusia County Young Democrats are trying to find more ways to collaborate with the community in order to open the floor for dialogue on politics and create a stronger interest in the elections.
The most recent effort by the group to reach other locals was through a fundraiser and networking social on Thursday, July 27 at the Tomoka Brewing Company. The event, a first for the organization, was also a way to raise money that will go toward helping the youth of Volusia County "become engaged and informed voters."
Cameron Totman, the organization's president and a Port Orange resident, said they want to create a positive image while encouraging residents to become more involved in local and national government, especially as elections will be held in 2018. Totman is also the founder of the group, which he started in early 2015.
"Initially, the club was created to provide almost like an educational route for people," Totman said. "I wanted to educate people on the issues. I did a bunch of research and I wanted to talk about the issues."
Totman's motivation to start the group while in nursing school at Daytona State College stemmed from several experiences. One motivator was when he noticed a low voter turnout while working as a greeter for the Volusia County Democratic party in 2014. Additionally, the lack of political presence at the college and learning about the lower-than-average voter numbers in 2014 eventually led him to form the Student Democratic Club of Daytona State College, now the Volusia County Young Democrats.
Since it was first started, the group has gone from three members its first year to 50 members in 2017. The group mainly consists of people ages 18 to 39, according to Christopher Neetz, the group's secretary.
"Now our focus is to recruit more people and by recruiting more people that's going to allow for more groundwork when it comes to helping candidates...even hopefully give people opportunities to go work on campaigns, to give our members experience when it comes to campaigning," Totman said.
According to Neetz, the club has also appointed new leadership with new officers elected on July 11. Neetz, Port Orange, said he joined because he had been experiencing voter apathy and wanted to see more people involved. Neetz explained he saw very few young people turning out to vote, not only for the Democratic Party but on the Republican side, as well as Independents. Neetz said this is where he hopes the club can make a difference, by raising awareness and reaching out to people who are still looking for more information.
"We want to find a way to actually talk about this stuff, other than just posting on Facebook," Neetz said. "We're really trying to focus on outreach, trying to get more people aware that our club exists and doing events like this."
