“Our founding fathers fought for the right of our children to sit at home on their couch and eat Doritos if they want to.” This is what a congressional staffer, in all seriousness, once told me during a meeting discussing summer meal programs at park and recreation agencies. The staffer kept talking, but everyone in the room knew the meeting was over. 

Oh yes, I thought to myself. As I believe Thomas Jefferson once said — and I’m sure I’m only slightly paraphrasing here — “The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free, neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuit of Doritos.”

I left the meeting feeling a bit dejected. This staffer had completely missed our point, his eyes glossing over at every statistic we had about child hunger and health and wellness. Not every meeting on the Hill goes this poorly, of course, and they usually don't include corn chips as the cornerstone of a policy stance. But this encounter did reaffirm a clear disconnect between Congress and the critical work happening at park and recreation agencies in their states and districts. It was clear that we had to do something different to show members of Congress and their staff the importance of parks and recreation, regardless of where they landed on the political spectrum.

Our response was to develop the Park Champion initiative — a grassroots advocacy program encouraging NRPA members to invite their U.S. senators and representatives to site visits, program kickoffs, ribbon-cuttings, groundbreakings and events. Your employees, parks, programs and connections to the community are incredible best assets in the fight to save federal investments in local parks and recreation. By inviting members of Congress for visits, they can see first-hand the importance of programs like LWCF, CDBG and USDA summer and afterschool meal programs. 

Since the start of the Park Champion initiative, we’ve held dozens and dozens of powerful Park Champion events with members of Congress or their staff. Perhaps my proudest moment was watching Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, Chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which handles the out-of-school-time meal programs, visit Mt. Airy Parks and Recreation’s summer meal program last year. It was evident to everyone in attendance the impact on the Congresswoman: as a decision-maker, it was likely hard for her to deny the value of funding the USDA meal programs when she was helping to pass out a free, healthy lunch to a kid in her district who might otherwise have gone hungry that day. 

Here on Capitol Hill, we’re working hard to bring your stories to members of Congress to make the case for local parks and recreation. You already know the incredible impact your agency’s work has on your community, and now, more than ever, you need to show your members of Congress. It’s up to you to fight for the future of parks and recreation. 

With that, I have a challenge for you, which I’m dubbing the Park Champion “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Doritos” Challenge specifically for recipients of the Urban Parks Insider: I know that each and every one of you have an exciting event, summer program, groundbreaking, ribbon cutting, or park dedication this summer.

 

Are you up for the challenge? 

 

Advocacy and Outreach Manager