8-26-2016: Community Outreach: Toledo Grows and Naturalization Ceremony

Today, Jane and I visited the community garden at Toledo GROWs. Toledo GROWs has an urban agriculture program that is supported by a local private partnership and federal funds. Congresswoman Kaptur worked hard to direct federal funds to this program, so we visited the garden today just to check and see how they’re doing.

Today, individuals from the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center, an organization located in South Toledo, used the garden’s facilities to harvest honey from bees. The hives are located at the Sofia Quintero Center. With help from a local expert in beekeeping, we watched members of the organization extract the honey from the honeycombs into a large container. Most of the honey will go to the organization, and any surplus honey is sold.

Our visit was a good example of showing a connection between the Congresswoman’s work in the district and her work in the House. Ms. Kaptur is a proponent of urban agriculture in general because it gives good, nutritious food to those who may not be able to obtain it in a different way. She is currently in the process of crafting a bill that pertains to urban agriculture. Her support for Toledo GROWs is an example of her work for projects at the local level, whereas her new bill is an example of her work in the House.

Closer to lunchtime, Theresa and I attended a naturalization ceremony at the federal courthouse in Downtown Toledo. The presiding judge was the Honorable Jeffrey J. Helmick, federal judge at the United States District Court for the Western Division of the Northern District of Ohio.

We attended the ceremony as special guests to congratulate the citizenship applicants on becoming citizens of the United States. After a guest speaker and several remarks from the judge, individuals took the oath of citizenship and received their certificates. Many special guests were in attendance, including staff members from both senators’ offices, a staff member from another U.S. congressional representative’s office, and several leaders from community organizations across the court’s jurisdiction. All of us then lined up to shake the hand of each individual, now a citizen of the United States. It is a very joyous event for everyone.

One of the nice things about attending the naturalization ceremony was seeing everyone whom I had met in January 2015 for my independent study of the American judicial system, Perspectives: The American Justice System [link goes here]. It was also interesting attending the naturalization ceremony as a representative of the Congresswoman’s office, as it carries a perspective different from the one I had during my independent study of the American judicial system. While the court swears in the new citizens, many citizens request help from congressional representatives and their offices in regards to completing the paperwork. Paperwork and documentation isn’t always easy, and in addition to tests that applicants must pass, it can even take many years for everything to be approved. This is one reason as to why the work of congressional offices is so important.