Organizers of Postcards for Policy are hoping for a “yuge” number of postcards to put into the mail today.
On Friday night, Café Berlin hosted an event allowing people to express their opinions about government. People were encouraged to be creative and bring their own contributions, as well as decorate the postcards provided on the table. Some of the cards created said “No Walls,” “Hands Off My Medicare” and “Resign.”
“It has to do with the Ides of Trump, as they’re calling it,” Kathleen Neason, the organizer of Postcards for Policy in Columbia, said.
Postcards for Policy is a nationwide event. According the event’s local Facebook page, the postcards will be mailed today. So they might arrive on the Ides of March.
“I’ve got so many friends that when the election happened, and with the way the country is going and all that, became almost very depressed and feeling hopeless and helpless like there was nothing we could do,” Neason said.
Neason decided to organize a local event after she found out about the national Postcards for Policy effort on Facebook. She said she thought it would be a perfect way to let the people’s voices be heard.
People of all ages were at the event, and songs such as Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” played over the speakers as people decorated their cards. Eddie Hedrick and his wife were just one of the many families in attendance.
“I’ve never been one into politics. I’m more of a centrist than a leftist or a right-winger,” Hedrick said. “But this particular president I think has aroused a lot of us old-timers to get concerned about many of the things that he’s doing.”
Hedrick is 71 years old. Before going into retirement, he says he was an epidemiologist who worked at the University of Missouri Hospital and clinics. Hedrick also worked for the state health department for 10 years and worked with local, national and state governments. He said the key to working with the government is to be able to voice your opinion.
“Whether you’re for this government or not for this government, I think this is important for all of us,” Hedrick said. “This is America, and to voice your opinions is part of what America is all about.”