Last summer, we organized our first intern program, attracting a dozen amazing people to walk, call, and work for MainStream in our election year activities. Many of our members in the Johnson County area saw them either at their doors, or on street corners urging people to vote. This summer, we also had interns, another dozen bright, eager people, but instead, we put them to work on longer term projects to help set us up for the coming election season, when our work to educate voters will be more important than ever.

We had them researching in depth the issues we work for at MainStream. We had them working on promotional videos and multimedia opportunities to get out the word about MainStream and the importance of voting. They researched and wrote about many of the most confusing terms in Kansas politics, from Appropriations to Water Board District, a glossary we will put online soon. And they helped gather information about candidates in the local elections this year, over two hundred candidates are running in just the Johnson, Wyandotte and Douglas county areas!

MainStream is grateful to these individuals for their work, we could not get done everything we need to without them. We trust that they, too, have taken something with them from their experience, working with an active political organization, meeting individuals working hard in government to make a difference, and of course, making a difference themselves. These were not all young kids still in school, we've always had the benefit of seasoned interns to balance the enthusiasm with experience.

These are the interns who did more than just vote in 2017:

Ellen Bertels
Diana Brinsko
Elijah Bunde
George Cochran
Brendan Davison
Cole Fine
Jeanine Gardener
Forest Kinsey
Christi Nance
Amy Schumacher
Claire Stiles

Remember to do more than vote. Get informed, get involved, make a difference.