From one KFTC Member to her friends and family:

Last weekend, I attended my first ever KFTC event - the Annual Membership Meeting in Jabez, KY.  At the risk of sounding melodramatic – it made my life finally make sense.

I went last weekend because in third grade I learned about endangered and extinct species, and I cried.  And then water conservation, and I demanded that my parents insulate the pipes so we wouldn’t run the water as long waiting for it to get hot.  I rode my bicycle up and down the alley behind my house near the middle of our small town, between the tree-lined train tracks and the cornfield with the rainbow-colored morning glories growing up the stalks.  And while I pedaled, I plotted how I would save the world.  I imagined myself giving grand speeches at the next school assembly after we all sang “Proud To Be An American” and then me and my classmates saving the environment.  But how, exactly?  It was too tall an order for a third grader, I felt too overwhelmed by the immensity of the task to save the planet and the people who called it home, and so I gave up.  Until last weekend.

I went last weekend, not because I still dreamed of being the planet’s champion, but because I wanted to meet people in Kentucky who cared about the same issues I care about, because I felt like my bumperstickers weren't really accomplishing as much as they might, because I was tired of feeling powerless to help the people and land I care about in real and meaningful ways.  What I witnessed and the people I met there shocked me.

And so, I have the following to report:

There were almost 200 KFTC members at this weekend meeting and there are over 7,000 KFTC members state-wide.  And they're really cool people.

I'm a member too, and I suspect many of you already are as well, so really I should say: WE'RE really cool people.  We come from all walks of life - all ages (babies to grannies were there!), all socioeconomic backgrounds, all different jobs, all different parts of the state (and country and world), all different religions, all ethnicities, all sexual orientations, all hair colors, all manner of life- and fashion-styles.  In other words, they weren't all tree-huggers or hippies or radicals (although you know my great affection for such folks).  Many of them looked like my mom and dad and grandma and grandpa.  Never before have I been in a room with such a diverse group of people who were getting along - sharing their differences and accepting those of others.

What we share as Kentuckians for the Commonwealth is a love of the people around us, the communities that support us, and a desire to make the world more awesome - to live somewhere surrounded by people and places who accept and support us and help us continue to be healthy and happy throughout our lives.
 
And what I learned this weekend is that that's actually not as overly-idealistic, or difficult, or overwhelming, or unrealistic as it may first seem.  That these inspirational KFTC members are able to sustain their  seemingly super-human energy and awareness and actions and vision for a healthier, more sustainable, more just Kentucky and world because they're not acting alone.  Because they have support.  That we have been and still are and can continue to be incredibly effective in creating positive changes for social, economic, and environmental justice.  And we don't even have to chain ourselves to buildings, or sit down in front of the White House and get arrested, or even carry a picket sign.  We don't have to get overwhelmed or burnt-out.  All we have to do is care and take small actions.  Because there are 7,000 of us taking small, medium, and big actions - and the cumulative results or our combined efforts make us super-powers as long as we are willing to make some action or effort.

And so, right now before the Nov. 2nd election, we have a chance to take a small step to make a big difference.  We can sign the New Power Pledge to let candidates and elected officials know we want them to work for policies that will create clean energy jobs, affordable renewable energy, and healthy communities and that will address the problems created by old power fossil fuels at www.newpowerky.org.  We can "be the change [we] wish to see in the world." Please take a few minutes to sign and ask your friends via email and Facebook to do the same because "each time [we] stand up for an ideal, or act to improve the lot of others, or strike out against injustice, [we] send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Help me keep believing - take a small step, make a big difference,

                                                                      - Jennifer Wurts

                                                                        "Bowling Green and Friends" KFTC Chapter