Day2 of the summit was an exceptional experience. We learned about the role of the United Nations Foundation and Kristin van Ogtrop, Editor-in-Chief, Real Simple Magazine spoke on the campaign called Make1Simple Change which was created shortly after the tragedy in Newtown, CT. Make1Simple Change is asking the question What do you think should be done to prevent a tragedy like Newtown from happening again? The 6 most inspirng ideas will be selected and those chosen invited to New York city for a special event. If you have an inspiring idea, by all means click above Make1SimpleChange above and submit your idea.
Next, we were briefed on advocacy by Peter Yeo, Executive Director, Better World Campaign; Vice President of Public Policy, UN Foundation and (ret) Congressman Jon Porter, (ret) Congressman Jim Kolbe. This was very insightful as we prepared to spend the afternoon on Capitol Hill talking to staffers of Representatives and Senators.
As a constituent, I never thought about visiting a Congressman’s offices to discuss issues that are pertinent to me as a voter. On February 11th, the Shot@Life team scheduled 85 meetings on Capitol Hill. Initially I felt overwhelmed as it was my first time advocating and visiting any political offices. All the delegates were paired with other delegates from our respective states.
For the state of Pennsylvania, we were scheduled to meet with staffers for US Representative Chaka Fattah, US Senator Robert Casey, Jr., and US Senator Pat Toomey. It turned out to be a very productive afternoon as we met, introduced ourselves and our interest in being Champions for for Shot@Life.
