Why is advocacy work so important? To Sara Beckwith it is about passion, and because she “truly believes that we have a voice and it is imperative to use our voice to work on programs such as the Healthy Tots Act and the Workplace Wellness Act.”
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Sara has worked hard with You’re the Cure and the American Heart Association to be an advocate for heart healthy legislation because she has witnessed the benefits firsthand in the community.
Sara is also passionate about food. One of her favorite activities is trying different restaurants in the District with her husband and when she cooks she experiments with different recipes. Food is also an essential part of her career. She first became interested in improving heart health when she worked as a cardiopulmonary rehab dietician in North Carolina. This position allowed her to help patients recuperating from heart surgeries and teach them how to take care of their hearts by eating healthy.
For the last five years, Sara has worked as a dietician teaching low-income families in the District to make healthy choices. It is through these experiences that she has come to see the direct impacts of advocacy work on the health of families. She has worked hard to support the funding for tobacco cessation programs so that families in DC can receive the help that they need.
As a dietician, Sara has been able to council women about their high blood pressure and knows that many people do not understand the consequences of these health problems. These experiences have driven Sara’s passion to advocate for legislation that will impact the health of the community.
What Sara finds as the most satisfying about advocacy work is “being a part of the public policy process and having a voice” and to others out there sitting on the fence about advocating for healthier lives she would say “Never doubt the power of one voice, our personal stories, passion, and conviction have a tremendous impact on policy makers.”
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