Washington, D.C. –The online appeal went out at 10 p.m., not long after President Obama wrapped up his address on health care to a joint session of Congress.

USAction Fund for a True Majority asked for support for members of Congress who vote in favor of quality, affordable health care reform, including a public health insurance option. The “ask” was for $3.26 per person – representing the $326 billion individuals and families currently spend on health insurance each year, according to the National Coalition on Health Care.

The response? Within 12 hours, 4,666 people had pledged a total of $84,264 to members of Congress who support reform.

“I was taken aback,” said Matt Holland, director of TrueMajority.org, USAction’s online arm. “We had pledges coming in at 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. Who reads their email at 4 in the morning?”

Holland said USAction Fund for a True Majority, a political action committee affiliated with USAction, plans to mobilize its membership if members of Congress who support health care reform are attacked in their re-election campaigns. The project was continuing to collect pledges as the day rolled on. TrueMajority has doubled its original goal and is now hoping for 10,000 individual pledges.

“In a sense, this is a continuation of the momentum that saw Barack Obama get elected,” Holland said. “There is tremendous enthusiasm out there for this President and this Congress to pursue progressive policies, whether it’s health care, clean energy or financial regulation. But there also is a recognition that we have a limited window of opportunity, and a tremendous obligation to make these things happen.”

During the past two weeks, USAction affiliates helped organize 102 “Let’s Get It Done” events in 20 states in support of health care reform. USAction is a co-founder of Health Care for America Now, the nation’s largest health care campaign, and USAction Executive Director Jeff Blum serves as co-chair of HCAN’s steering committee.