Raleigh is a new BLAST intern.

A set of five new BLAST interns and two new Urban Ed. and Outreach interns traveled to that big golden dome on Beacon Hill on Wednesday, July 5th to learn about the legislative process and advocacy. Our mission was to garner support for a proclamation, officially naming the first week of August as Eat In, Act Out Week, to be sent through to the governor himself. Unbeknownst to the young interns, advocating for something does not prove to be as daunting a task as it seems. Our kind hostess, Maureen Ferris, director of the Massachusetts Legislative Children’s Caucus, gave us a quick tour of the magnificent State House, describing almost every detail, from murals of historical figures all the way down to the thirteen varieties of marble throughout the great edifice (I counted four). More importantly, she showed us the political ropes about advocacy and legislation, assuaging our uncertainties, and prepping us for our afternoon meetings; and all in time for lunch!

After a short respite for lunch, the BLAST interns (each teamed with a trusty Urban Ed. sidekick) strutted their stuff in front of the various staff of each individual Representative and Senator on our hit list. I personally met with a charismatic Matthew Fitzgerald, the aide to Representative Rush, who just happened to be an alumnus of my school (Roxbury Latin) and whose cousin is a classmate of mine. I’m surprised we got along so well. My second meeting involved the less connected (to me) aide to Representative Petersen, who enjoys singing.

After an afternoon of meetings, the seven interns in all met with twelve different people, which I would like to call a success. All in all, we spread the good word of The Food Project and of BLAST’s current goal for Eat In, Act Out week, and learned a couple of things along the way about politics in the Commonwealth.