Some of you may receive the National Trust member e-newsletters. In many cases, these newsletters ask the reader to personalize a letter to his/her Congressman in order request more funding, assistance in saving a landmark, etc. Like a good preservationist, I fill out the forms with my name, address, and occasionally I’ll add something to the letter, hoping that the personalization shows the importance of the issue. Unfortunately, more often than not my letter is rejected by the web server because I don’t live in the associated area of the landmark. Well now, isn’t that unfair? Shouldn’t the letter be able to go to a higher official who can accept letters from anyone? (I obviously don’t know who that would be.) The landmark could be just as important to someone who lives in New York as it is to someone who lives in California. And if this is not possible, why doesn’t the form say you can only live in these states to send this letter? Beats me, it’s just a particular pet peeve of emails of mine.
But, I can’t address a problem just to complain. As preservationists, we realize this a major problem in our country. People complain and do nothing about it, despite knowing exactly what the problem is. There are other issues, which could use help from everyone everywhere. Upon further investigation this newsletter has this link: http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/advocacy-center/ Here nationwide causes are listed. Preservation support and action is needed all of the time and it’s important that we support issues that we can. It takes a few minutes to fill out these forms and if enough people participate, it will definitely make a difference. So, give it a go, preservationists. There’s no sense in just talking – we need to act!
Preservation in Pink 