2021 | Week of September 6 | Radio Transcript #1428

In a day when the news is often bad, frightening, maddening, disappointing and more, I offer some good news.

Last week, Choose Life Wisconsin distributed $31,000 to 11 pregnancy care centers across Wisconsin. Those centers are located in De Pere, Fond du Lac, Hayward, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Mukwonago, Sheboygan, Waukesha, and West Bend. With this distribution, Choose Life Wisconsin has now give over $152,000 to more than thirty pregnancy care centers, all of whom are doing life-saving work for women, their unborn children, and in many cases the men who have fathered the babies.

The money that is being distributed is from the sale of the Choose Life Wisconsin license plates. Pro-life citizens who purchase the plates pay an additional $25 per year fee, all which goes to Choose Life Wisconsin. Choose Life Wisconsin then takes every dime of the proceeds and gives it away to pregnancy care centers that have submitted applications.

The reason every cent of the money from the sale of the plates can go to the incredible pregnancy care centers is that Wisconsin Family Council and our partner on this project, Pro-Life Wisconsin, underwrite all the overhead and administrative costs for Choose Life Wisconsin—and we are honored to do so.

The first round of grants was made in May of 2018, just months after the plates were made available for sale in late October 2017. Since May 2018, we have awarded grants twice a year. We do our best to deliver the checks in person because it’s just so rewarding to see the smiles of directors, board members and volunteers who are excited to receive these funds that will be immediately put to good use in their life-saving efforts. We also get tours and hear first-hand about new programs and initiatives. When we leave, we almost always think we’ve been blessed more than we have been a blessing!

Wisconsin DOT tells us we have about 2000 plates currently on the road and have sold well over 2000 plates. The Choose Life plate is one of the best-selling specialty funding license plates in the state. State law requires that at least 500 plates are on the road each year in order to keep the plate being produced. If the number goes below 500, then Choose Life Wisconsin has one year to get the number up.

As I drive around the state, I keep a sharp eye out for these distinctive plates that feature classic Wisconsin colors of black, red and white. The graphic on the left is a newborn’s ink footprint, the numbers or personalized text is in black, and the words Wisconsin and Choose Life are in bright red at the top and bottom respectively.

Typically, my keen sight is rewarded with a Choose Life Wisconsin plate sighting. Recently, I was on 94 somewhere between Milwaukee and Madison, and a car that had been behind me passed me on the left. The passenger looked out her window and smiled. I was curious as to why that was until I saw the Choose Life plate on the car. This lady had seen my Choose Life plate.

As it happened, I ended up passing that car and gave a big smile and a thumb’s up as I did so. Both were readily returned. It’s not about being in an elite group; it’s about knowing complete strangers share a passion for life in our state and being encouraged that we are making a difference.

These Choose Life Wisconsin plates are an incredible way to share a tasteful but pointed pro-life message everywhere we travel. I’ve found the plate to be a good conversation starter as well, because many people are curious about the plate. I’m happy to promote a culture of life in my response.

But these plates don’t just convey a great pro-life message, they also fund the very best pro-life ground-game we have—our pregnancy care centers. Think that about that. How many times for about $2.10 a month—less than the cost of a specialty coffee—do you get to make a difference like you can with the Choose Life plate as one plate gets added to the thousands and the money just keeps adding up? And the more money made from the sale of the plates, the more money that goes to the pregnancy care centers.

For information on getting a Choose Life plate, visit chooselifewisconsin.com or call 888-378-7395. Maybe one of these days we’ll be exchanging a greeting as we see each other on Wisconsin’s roads, rejoicing in how we are proclaiming the good news of life.

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”