January 1, 2016 — Happy New Year! Dear NFLCheerPay Supporters, It’s hard to believe our www.Change.org/NFLCheerleading petition has now entered it’s 3rd year; actively opened for 732 days, with 156,434 awesome petition supporters to date, thank you! In reflecting over the past year, we’ve made some positive strides towards helping NFL Cheerleaders; and professional cheerleaders overall, be paid living wages: [1] Many petition supporters from this campaign helped CA-Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez pass AB202 into law requiring cheerleaders on professional sports teams to be treated as employees, and guaranteed at least minimum wage [2] NBA Cheerleaders, and Reese Witherspoon, joined a separate battle against the Milwaukee Bucks over cheerleaders being paid less than minimum wage [3] and finally, nineteen lawmakers are asking the NFL to pay cheerleaders at least minimum wage. Comments received from petition supporters indicate how angry you are knowing an NFL/NBA Cheerleader earns $3 per hour, yet an NFL mascot can earn $60K, a water boy $53K, and even the hot dog vendor $12-$18 per hour. Football and non-football fans normally react similarly when told NFL Cheerleaders earn minimum wage, or less, “WHAT”? Great articles continue to be written on the meniscal cheerleading pay practices of the NFL, helping to keep the issue alive; but with so many issues plaguing the NFL (e.g. Concussions, Deflategate, Domestic Abuse), focus shifts rapidly. As a result, in order for the NFL to hear us and react, we need to continue spreading this issue to both the 45 percent of the NFL female viewing audience and +4.6M NBA female fan base; the louder our voice, the better chance the NFL will listen, as “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try” –unknown. And currently, we’re slowly making a difference. Let’s make 2016 the year that the NFL Cheerleaders are paid a living wage! Change is in the air, can you feel it? Cheers, Diane Todd (aka: Cheerleader for the Cheerleaders) p.s. My daily blog focuses on a wide variety of issues: other petitions I’ve become involved in, NFL, Cheerleading, Relationships, Online Dating, and other thoughts of the day. This week on www.bloggingwithcause.com, “Cheercussions”: http://bloggingwithcause.com/cheercussion/ Please share your comments and thoughts
 Follow Diane on Twitter @dianetodd03