Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Wear It On Your Sleeve

(Ed. disclosure: this blog post is a piece I wrote for We Can Live United, United Way of Greater Cincinnati's blog. I am an employee of United Way).

I've been advocating for important issues since I was four-years-old.

It started way back on a sunny spring day in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sunshine is at a premium during that time of year in the Twin Cities, and the weather must have made an impression on me as I played at a park with the rest of my Montessori class.

There we were, running around the swings and slides, when one of my classmates offered me a big, red, stop sign-shaped sticker denouncing acid rain.

I happily grabbed that Stop Acid Rain! sticker and slapped it on my metal, Holly Hobby lunch box.

To this day, my mom says that's when she knew I was going to grow up to be an activist.

Since that glorious day near Lake Minnetonka, I have trumpeted issues that matter most to me. I've gotten involved in political campaigns and used my personal blog as a forum to champion ideas important to my community.

I am committed to using my passion, my energy, my time to making a difference.

Whether I help make change in the community, in my neighborhood or in one person's life, I am confident my work is making our world just a wee bit better.

Everyone has the potential to advocate. If you have Facebook or Twitter, use your avatar to raise awareness for a cause that's important to you. If you have a stretch of lawn in front of your home, raise a yard sign informing your neighbors about an issue you care about.

Next time you join a friend for coffee or a cocktail, take a moment to tell them what you really care about, and how they can help support your cause.

Heck. Plaster your car with bumper stickers. Just get the message out.

We each have a voice and a channel for advocacy. It's not just about writing your lawmakers about issues that need attention - it's about telling your family, friends and co-workers why they should care about something that's important to you.

Sharing the message is one way we can rally the troops.

Even the little four-year-olds.

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Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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