As a follow-up to January’s Women’s March in Haines, Haines People for Peace will help people identify pressing local, state, national or global issues and form a plan of action to address them at a March 1 meeting.

“We’ve marched, we’ve talked about the march, now we need a process to think about what it is we want to do,” said meeting organizer Melissa Aronson. “There’s so much going on in the country right now, it can feel pretty overwhelming. When people feel too overwhelmed, they elect to do nothing and that’s not good for democracy.”

Aronson, along with Lizi and Tracy Wirak, organized the “Taking Action” meeting for “anyone and everyone who is concerned about current affairs in our country.” Aronson will lead the group in a process for problem-solving and goal-setting.

She said individual thinking, small group brainstorming and large group discussions will allow people to identify and prioritize issues they are most passionate about and walk away with tangible goals and a plan for how to proceed.

“We can all be active in one area of our life and try to bring about change in one area of our life, no one of us can do everything,” she said.

Aronson said she wants to address issues like the electoral college or gerrymandering.

An action plan could include running for office, calling or writing legislators or just listening to people who have different points of view, Aronson said.

“We all tend to be getting siloed in our thoughts,” Aronson said. “The most patriotic thing one can ever do is do as much as you can to improve your country.”

The meeting is 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, March 1 at the library.

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