We are all being inundated with the holiday rush of charitable giving campaigns, the imploring of countless candidates, and – with Giving Tuesday upon us – a raft of emails from organizations doing important work.

The Greenville County Democratic Party is a community organization doing important work as well. We fight for better schools and safer streets, for expanded public transportation, for legislation that helps prevent gun violence, for women’s reproductive rights and gender equality, for a cleaner environment and a sustainable world, for affordable healthcare accessible to all.

We do this by identifying and supporting candidates who will fight in city councils, county council, the State House and Congress for the values we, as Democrats, believe in. And we are making progress.

Through the party’s efforts you get a bulwark against the one-party rule the state has lived under for decades, a strong voice to defend Democratic values, candidates who are articulate, educated, dedicated, and tough enough to stand toe-to-toe with Republicans on policy and governance. Our efforts are powered totally by your donations to the GCDP; we receive no funding from the state or national party.

So on Giving Tuesday, December 3, we just ask that you consider taking 10 percent of what you are planning to give to a candidate or charity, and donate to the GCDP, to fuel our fight to get Democrats elected up and down the ballot and shift the power dynamic in Greenville County and the state.

What do you get for your money? You get Democracy.