The Polish American Congress, Downstate N.Y. Division (PAC, N.Y.) has just concluded this year's registration drive conducted in Ridgewood, Queens. The goal of the drive was to encourage Poles to vote in U.S. elections and to help them register. We commend the initiative and can only wish that other organizations would follow in PAC's footsteps.

Our signature organization, like no other, has the mission to motivate Poles to political engagement, especially since we have been unable to join any major American party in a significant way, as an ethnic group. There are many factors to why efforts by Polish-American political clubs, which have found connection with a greater number in our community, have not produced tangible effects.

Even if we couldn't count on much interest in the upcoming midterm elections among Polish Americans, the ambitious initiative undertaken by Frank Milewski, president of PAC, N.Y., can be considered a success. For three years, PAC, N.Y. members, concentrating their efforts in several places within New York City, managed to register close to a thousand people. This year their registration drive focused on Ridgewood, Queens, a neighborhood that is becoming increasingly Polish.

For Milewski, the initiative has a broader purpose beyond encouraging Polish individuals to go to the polls and vote. It is an effective public relations action; each year, the organization informs American politicians of its registration achievements. In this way PAC is trying to show them that our community is a vibrant part of their electorate and that it has a voice. PAC wants to make legislators and other election candidates aware that Poles care and that they vote. What is more, they can also reject them if they fail to meet their expectations.

PAC, N.Y.'s initiative has met with interest among local politicians, with some suggesting they join PAC's representatives in the registration drive – most recently, the Ridgewood Democratic Club. The Polish American Congress, however, declined their offer, wishing to remain nonpartisan.

Milewski's pre-election initiative is conducted in front of churches, and thus it underscores issues and concerns for Catholics. We are told that Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, of the Brooklyn-Queens diocese, wants each parish in his jurisdiction to undertake similar efforts. PAC's experience could be used as guidance here.

Words of praise should be also directed to priests at Polish parishes in New York. Not only do they allow PAC representatives to conduct their registration drive in front of their churches, but also support it by encouraging the flock to register or letting Frank Milewski introduce his group and its initiative at the end of each Mass.

We can only express our regret that other organizations are not following in PAC, N.Y.'s footsteps. We have not heard of similar initiatives being undertaken by other local divisions of PAC, although they would certainly contribute to raising their reputation, as well as strengthen their political power.

Milewski hopes to set an example for all those who haven't yet realized the potential in raising awareness of the political process among our group. We are keeping our fingers crossed for him.