At the convention I brought up the idea of having an Explorer's Club. The purpose of the club is to take the LPD to places we haven't gone before. There are two ways we can do that. By donations of your time and/or money. Both are necessary, in my opinion, to advance the LPD so, therefore, please think of this as a two-pronged approach.

I don't like the idea of initiating dues for our members. For some it may be a hardship and for others the idea that they've paid their dues may mean that they've taken care of their financial contribution when, in reality, they could do more. Some may be able to donate their time, through volunteerism, but adding a new expense to their budget may pose a real problem. The last thing I would want to do is make someone feel any less a member because he/she can't comfortably write a check. That's why volunteer work has been included as a way to become a member of the Explorer's Club.

I'll address the money path to admittance first. The donation amount is $1,000. Let me tell you what we could do with such donations. As you may know we're holding monthly meetings where we show about an hour of Michael Badnarik's An Introduction to the Constitution. In case you don't know, Michael was the 2004 Libertarian Party's Presidential candidate. He's been studying the constitution for over 20 years. There's been a version of his classes available online and you can get started watching them by clicking here. We've bought a copy of the class on DVD and each set is $100. Right now, I'm carrying the DVDs to each meeting. In Sussex County we hold classes each month in Seaford and Milton, and in Kent County we have one night per month scheduled at present. We're in the process of trying to schedule a class at the Newark Library as well and, hopefully, we'll be bringing another location in New Castle County online after Newark. I'd like to be able to give a set to whoever will be hosting each meeting because it won't always be convenient for me to travel to these events. I wish we had enough money to be able to give a set to every American Legion Post, VFW, and public library (for checkout). I'd also like to add class meetings at the Delaware Technical and Community Colleges in all three counties. DelTech charges about $70 per night for a classroom. With the interest that the youth of our state demonstrated in Ron Paul's candidacy during the last election I'm convinced that our message is one that will resonate with them. What better place than a college to recruit new members for the LPD? Unfortunately, none of that's possible right now, ergo, the Explorer's Club.

I believe that people have to know how much you care before they care how much you know. That's why a sincere volunteer effort is an option for club membership. The donation is 100 hours. You could volunteer at your local library or hospital or volunteer fire company or school. What interests you? Where would you like to be of service? You could volunteer your time helping the LPD. We're going to need members to meet with politicians in the General Assembly. Once we develop our platform I'd like for LPD members to take the planks to the then-current seat holders to see if they will work with us getting our ideas implemented. If they do then we've found someone we can work with. If they don't, we'll have a story to tell when we run a candidate against them in the next election cycle. Your time is valuable...certainly worth $10 an hour.

Maybe you could do a little of both. For instance, if you could give $200 and volunteer 80 hours of your time, you'd qualify as an Explorer's Club member. We need to cut a path in uncharted territory. This has been called a libertarian moment. With your help we'll turn it into a Libertarian movement. Right here in Delaware.

You can contact me, Jim Rash, by e-mail or by phone (302-797-8012) and, with your help, we'll make Delaware the First "Free" State.