The power of your activism

We’ve written before about the power of click-through advocacy and how simply sending a coordinated email or signing on to a petition can be a  strategic and effective form of activism. Today, I wanted to update you on two of the campaigns that Empower Missouri’s friends and followers have engaged in, the success of those campaigns, and how we can keep the momentum of change moving forward.

On Monday, September 23rd, over 79,000 comments were submitted to the USDA regarding the Trump Administration’s proposed change in eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps). Our comment, which over 240 Missourians signed on to, was in opposition to the proposal, and we suspect the final tally will show that most of the others were as well. This is an overwhelming showing of support for our neighbors who utilize SNAP to help put food on their table. We’ll be keeping our followers updated on this potential rule change over the coming weeks and months, but those are huge numbers! So huge, in fact, that the New York Times said that the USDA was “flooded with appeals to stop food stamp purge”. Thank you to everyone who submitted a comment!

Empower Missouri is working to bolster SNAP on both a federal and state level. As of this writing, 11 state representatives from both sides of the political aisle have signed up to participate in the #MOSNAPChallenge. We’ve asked MIssourians to use our handy advocacy tool to contact their elected representatives and ask them to participate – and it’s clearly working! We also found out earlier this week that, because of the attention we’ve drawn to the issue, Representative Cleaver from Missouri’s 5th Congressional District and Representative Clay from the 1st Congressional District have signed on to be co-sponsors of H.R. 1368, which would increase the average SNAP recipient’s benefit. If you’d like your representative to participate, you can send them an email at this link. 

These are just two examples of how simple click-through advocacy has helped to make major advancements in our legislative process. But there are more ways you can get involved, as well. One way is to attend an event where you can grow knowledge and skills in preparation for civic leadership.

On November 9th, we’ll be holding our annual conference, “Building Blocks for Missouri’s Success” in Columbia, MO. We have an all-star line-up of workshops that will help each of us learn more and become better advocates of change. We’ve worked hard to keep the registration price low to make the event accessible to everyone who wants to come – tickets are just $35 (lunch and snacks are included). By coming to the conference, you’re not only gaining knowledge from hard-working social justice experts, but you’ll be supporting Empower Missouri so that we can sustain the social justice leadership so needed in our state.

We hope to see you there!