ADVOCACY Rep. Bob Dold (R-IL-10) visited Waukegan Park District during a 2015 Park Champion event to check out its Summer Food Service Program and see how local parks and rec make a huge difference in communty members' lives. 2016: The Year of Park Champion Advocacy By Jayni Rasmussen T his past summer, we were floored by the motivation and creativity of the Park Champions who stepped up in the first year of our new grassroots advocacy initiative. Following up on the success and lessons learned from the inaugural summer of Park Champion advocacy (www.parksandrecreation.org/2015/August/The-Summer-of-Park-Champion-Advocacy), we're excited to expand the initiative by making 2016 the year of Park Champion advocacy. 2016 is going to be a big one. With one-third of the 100 U.S. Senate seats and all 435 U.S. House of Representatives seats up for election next year, the timing has never been better to host a Park Champion event. The Park Champion show-and-tell advocacy model is ideal during election years, as your federal elected officials will be eager to get out and be seen in their home states and districts. By hosting a Park Champion event, you are providing a photo-perfect venue for congressional members to connect with constituents. 26 Parks & Recreation That's why this year we're excited to expand the initiative to a year-round movement with 50 Park Champion events in 50 states. You already know how important parks and recreation is to the community you serve. But, we need your help to ensure Congress continues to understand the importance of parks and recreation - help us meet our goal of 50 Park Champion events in 50 states by signing the Park Champion pledge at www.nrpa.org/ park-champions. | F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 6 | W W W. N R PA . O R G Once you've signed the pledge, take advantage of some of the great new tools available to you to get started: Host an Event - Now Even Easier to Do Park Champions who host events are powerfully poised to demonstrate the importance of parks and recreation to the community their members of Congress serve. It's easy to build on an existing event by inviting your members of Congress. Check out www.nrpa.org/park-champions to access our easy-to-use Park Champion Advocacy Toolkit to get started. Learn and Grow Starting in early 2016, we'll be hosting an exciting new series of monthly webinars designed to educate new and veteran Park Champions on how to be