MADISON, Wis. -- To support nationwide health care reform, President Barack Obama declared Saturday as National Health Care Day.

A local grassroots group gathered Saturday morning on the Capitol Square to raise awareness about the issue.

One of the participants, Melissa Stiles, said she's hoping to change the face of healthcare, one signature at a time.

"We're trying to get as many letters as we can and we're planning to deliver them this week," Stiles said.

These dedicated activists are gathering support for a nationwide health care plan, and next week, they'll deliver the signature to Wisconsin's top lawmakers.

"As a physician, I see issues with our health care system everyday, any number of patients that are in my office every morning afternoon. There's a story either of no insurance or of inadequate insurance," said Stiles.

Justin Marx signed a letter on Saturday because he said he's seen firsthand the results of poor health coverage.

"It's occurred to me recently that we really need some sort of public option that people can afford," Marx said, "I lost my best man four years ago to mental illness. A lot of young people go without health insurance because they think, 'Oh, we're invincible.'"

Marx said with an affordable public plan, his friend might not have taken his own life.

"If there was (a) public option then he definitely would have been able to afford it and possibly could be alive today," said Marx.

Stiles said her work as a doctor at University of Wisconsin Health has opened her eyes to the problems of health care.

"We see ERs everywhere that are overwhelmed with people that come too late because they don't seek medical attention," said Stiles.

The group members said that they hope more than 2,000 signatures can show lawmakers the wave of local support.

"We're pretty much on our way there we've had a very successful morning," Stiles said.

Marx said he hopes others might benefit from a new system even if his friend couldn't.

"I've really been affected by this. It's really made me want to go out there and work for health care reform," said Marx.

"I think we're at a breaking point and we need to do something about health care or its going to implode," said Stiles.

The group plans to take the signed letters to U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin next week.

As of 11 a.m. on Saturday, the group had more than 1,000 signatures, WISC-TV reported.