Our Operations and Engagement Manager Matt Doll reflects on why MEP’s work is so important this Give to the Max Day:
Do you have a fond memory about spending time in nature with a loved one? Most of us do, and I’ve made a lot of them this year.
I have a young daughter who loves nothing more than looking for creatures. Throughout the past several months, we went outside together and spotted bees, toads, Monarch butterflies, and a hummingbird that mistook my daughter’s shirt for a real flower. We collected pinecones, watched the leaves start to change color, and stomped in plenty of puddles.
But some days, we had to stay inside because of the wildfire smoke. Some days, I thought about how much less abundant the butterflies are than when I was a kid. Some days, I asked myself: how do you tell a toddler that the world is changing because of greed and shortsighted environmental destruction?
It’s easy to sit with despair, but it’s not useful. I refuse to do nothing while big polluters steal all this natural beauty from my daughter’s future.
In my job at the Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP), I’ve written all kinds of policy letters, columns, and messages, but they all share a common story. It’s the story of how protecting our planet isn’t so hard after all, that we can have both thriving people and a healthy planet for our kids, but only if we choose it.
MEP’s work has powered many policy wins over the years – real results that have protected water, nature, and families in Minnesota. But we’re facing powerful forces invested in the status quo. We can’t keep winning without more people power on our side.
Give to the Max Day giving is open, and I invite you to commit to MEP’s vital work with any amount you can afford. If there were ever a time to join the fight, it’s now.