Dear Editor,

After the chaos of the past few weeks including SCOTUS upheavals, a disheartening presidential debate, mass shootings and an assassination attempt, and continued uncertainty as to the future of our federal government, I find myself constantly stressing about what our community, nation, and world will look like in the coming year and beyond. Additionally, I find that in times like this, it can feel like as individuals we can do nearly nothing to change the outcome of such major concerns. 

I wanted to write this letter to you today to propose an action that anyone can take to make a difference in the lives of our community, as well as saving lives around the world. Instead of waiting till November to put in your vote, we could actively be reaching out to our representatives in Congress, Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, and Pramila Jayapal, to take action on legislation today. Already our representatives have strongly advocated for essential legislation, especially lately concerning women’s rights and access to healthcare. I am very grateful to our representatives for continuing supporting our pressing concerns, and I believe they can continue to fight for us in other ways as well. By taking less than one minute out of our days to reach out via phone, email, or social media to our representatives and voice our opinion, we can change the trajectory of our government policies across the nation.

Finally, I would also like to mention that the Tacoma-based nonprofit organization The Borgen Project is one of the most influential organizations advocating for eradicating global poverty by continually contacting Congress and supporting foreign policy legislative acts. Right now, they have an action center on their website that allows you to contact Congress in less than 45 seconds regarding important bills including sending humanitarian aid to Gaza, increasing the International Affairs Budget, increasing global education through the READ Act, and many more. If you are interested in having your opinion on foreign policy heard and ending world hunger, check out The Borgen Project’s action center here, and get involved today.

Hailey Alt

Seattle