Today, August 21st, is National Senior Citizens Day, a holiday that was proclaimed by President Reagan in 1988, but hasn’t seemed to catch on outside of nursing homes. Remarkably, even the greeting card industry hasn’t taken to it.
Instead of waiting around to be vaguely “honored” simply for being old, we propose that those 50 and older make this a day of activism. The most obvious place to start would be the re-authorization of the Older Americans Act, but whatever your cause, here are online resources for getting in touch with government officials and agencies:
Okay, so maybe there’s a good reason it didn’t catch on…
- USA.gov is a directory of government services and contacts, including elected officials at all levels of government, from local to the White House.
- Congress.gov is the new official website for U.S. federal legislative information. It’s a replacement/update of Thomas.gov, which still can be accessed during the transition.
- Congressmerge.com is a privately run site, with a list of Congressional committees, sub-committees and their members, as well as suggestions for how best to communicate with Congress.
- Letter2congress.com has an easy look-up for your representatives and an easy to fill out and submit email form. Remember, if you truly want to have an impact, use your own words, don’t cut-and-paste from some group’s action alert.
Of course, if you’d rather just relax and celebrate, Seniordiscounts.com has discounts organized by both type and place. Enjoy!
