Every year the Greater Chicago Food Depository offers a
limited number of scholarships for member agency representatives to attend the
National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in Washington, DC. To apply next year,
look for the scholarship application that is sent out in December.
We will be
featuring three guest bloggers from Food Depository member agencies who will
share their experiences at this year’s conference. The first is Tyler Grissom, Associate Director at the Willow Creek Care Center in Hoffman Estates.
I received an e-mail a few weeks ago with an opportunity to
go to Washington D.C. for the 2012 National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference. I had no idea really what I was getting
myself into; I have never been to D.C. before and I have never attended an
event like this. The conference ended up
far exceeding my expectations and I learned so much. The thing that probably impacted me more than
anything was when we visited the office staff of our Congressional
Representatives on our final day. I
really felt comfortable in the meetings and I loved advocating on behalf of our
Willow Creek Care Center families. I
told stories of families that I know personally and I could see compassion in
the eyes of the office staff as I told them. As I read one story, a legislative assistant
shouted out, “That’s truly amazing! Can I have that story to give to the
Senator?” These interactions taught me the
importance of advocacy and that our voices really do matter at a national
level. I really felt like I was heard
and that I made a difference by telling the stories of the people we serve day
to day at the Care Center.
Showing back up to work at the Care Center every day has
been different for me. Attending this
conference made me feel like I am in this line of work with a lot of other
people and together we are making a significant difference in our communities
around the country. My vision for helping
end hunger is much larger than it was before and I am now challenging others
involved at the Care Center to advocate on behalf of those they serve. I am telling more and more people these days
of how incredibly important their voices are.
I also just recently found out that one of our Congressmen wants to come
visit our Willow Creek Care Center because of the stories that were shared on
Capitol Hill. My
hope is that he will be deeply impacted by visiting us and that he will be able
to bring change at a national level that will eventually affect us in a
positive way at a state level. Our
voices and our stories really do matter!
To be a tourist is to escape accountability. Errors and failings don't cling to you the way they do back home. You're able to drift across continents and languages, suspending the operation of sound thought. Tourism is the march of stupidity. You're expected to be stupid. The entire mechanism of the host country is geared to travelers acting stupidly. You walk around dazed, squinting into fold-out maps. You don't know how to talk to people, how to get anywhere, what the money means, what time it is, what to eat or how to eat it. Being stupid is the pattern, the level and the norm. You can exist on this level for weeks and months without reprimand or dire consequence. Together with thousands, you are granted immunities and broad freedoms. You are an army of fools, wearing bright polyesters, riding camels, taking pictures of each other, haggard, dysenteric, thirsty. There is nothing to think about but the next shapeless event. Cheap flights to Chicago
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