An Awesome Crew and a Reason to Be Thankful!

By Becky Smith, Massachusetts Campaigns Director Last week I attended the annual benefit for MA Alliance, a group that Clean Water Action is a member of which works to elect progressives in Massachusetts. It was a freezing and windy night to hike it across the water from the Boston office, and I'd considered leaving before the string of speakers took the stage. Thankfully I didn't, because this happened: After a several speakers, the Governor was introduced and whipped up the crowd with a rousing "sermon" about how there's a war on the poor and that progressives, and the issues we fight for, are more important than ever if we truly want to impact lives. Then he introduced U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern. You know someone is a true champ when they are introduced by the Guv! The speeches had been going on for some time at that point, so the Congressman proposed to keep it short. He said he'd only tell one story. And it was this one:

When I was first elected in 1996 to Congress, I wasn't supposed to win. The polls closed at 8pm, and at 8:01pm I was declared the loser. By 10pm, I was winning, but you get the picture.... A few weeks after my unlikely win, I was in the grocery store and a woman approached me to tell me that she'd voted for me. I said, “Well thank you so much.” She then said, “Well, ask me WHY I voted for you.” So I did. She told me that on a cold, dark, rainy night, a young woman from Clean Water Action had knocked on her door, accepted her invitation in for a cup of tea (“...which I understand they aren't supposed to do,” the Congressman said) and had talked to me about the environment and why it was such an important issue in this election. “I had not planned to vote at all in the election,” she said, “but after that conversation -- and knowing it was important enough for this young woman to be out talking about on a cold and rainy night -- that was enough for me to know that I would vote for you. At this point, my head grew a few sizes and my heart welled with pride! Then I got to meet the Congressman and shake his hand and he was very grateful for Clean Water Action and our members.

I'm really grateful to be part of this crew, too.  We’ve got a rock star staff. We do concrete and meaningful work in the trenches and make a real difference for people and the natural environment. But we also have a secret weapon - our members and volunteers, and supporters. They make this amazing staff go. So, thank you to everyone out there who has been a part of Clean Water Action in any way. You’ve all had an impact and I’m excited to keep-on-keeping-on with each and every one of you.