The Green Party of Michigan will meet in Monroe on Saturday for its state membership meeting.

The meeting will take place beginning at 9 a.m. at the Quality Inn, 1225 N. Dixie Hwy. A panel will be held featuring several people who founded the organization in 2000. At 6 p.m., there will be a Meet-the-Greens pizza party.

The event is free.

Sherry A. Wells of Ferndale, chairperson, said the goal of the meeting is to plan one of the three meetings the party has each year.

“We would hold one within a 90 minute drive of everyone in the Lower Peninsula plus have one more or less in the middle Upper Peninsula,” she told the Monroe News in an e-mail. The Green Party does have members in Monroe County, Wells said.

“(We) have been trying to start a local chapter there,” she said. “This should give it a boost.”

Joseph Jordan of Royal Oak will serve as the meeting manager.

Wells said people assume the Green Party is a one-issue party focused on the environment.

“Our other three pillars are social justice, grassroots democracy and nonviolence,” she said. “I consider us the party of working people, which to me includes full-time parents and other caregivers.”

At the Monroe meeting, Wells said she is not sure how many party members will attend, but, some might not be able to attend because of the primary.

“This is too close to the primary for even our candidates running in it to attend,” she said.

In 2016, Green Party membership doubled in Michigan and its reach is growing nationwide, Wells said.

“Other states’ Green Parties also grew phenomenally,” she said. “I don’t have the numbers but the ‘growth spurt’ is more important than specific numbers. Official ‘membership’ is less than the votes Jill Stein a year ago, but that’s giving us a target. We are doing continuous recruiting so the numbers increase by quite a bit each week.”

At the Monroe meeting, additional topics of discussion will include officer reports and bylaw amendments among others.

The party is already preparing for the 2018 election with its state convention taking place in either Grand Rapids or Flint.

“We already have some potential candidates actively running,” Wells said.

For more information visit, www.migreenparty.org or call (313) 815-2025.