This may be a surprise to you, but liberals and Democrat operatives have been known to lie about conservatives from time to time. I know… shocker.
You’ve heard them all before, I’m sure. They say that we don’t like women, they say we don’t care about young people, and they say we don’t like minorities. One particular lie that really burns me up is the false narrative that we don’t care about the poor or people in need.
Because conservatives often oppose new welfare-type government programs intended to help the poor, the other side paints us as opposing the people that those programs are supposed to be helping. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Conservatives care about people in need. A recent study from The Philanthropy Chronicle indicates that conservatives are actually more charitable and generous than liberals.
Many conservatives believe that new government programs often do more harm than good for the poor because they create greater government dependency, as opposed to self-sufficiency. The truth is that conservatives care about the community and those in need very much. It’s just that our solutions for poverty look much different than that of liberals.
Unfortunately, even though conservatives are generous in their time and resources in the community, the perception that we don’t care about the poor is widespread. I’m sure you’ve seen the studies and polls that indicate voters believe there is a large compassion gap between Republicans and Democrats. For example, according to a poll from last year, a whopping two-thirds of voters believe the GOP favors the rich over the poor.
To address this misperception, the Prince William County Republican Committee set out this year to engage in a robust community service initiative. Our goal for the initiative was to help the community, but also to demonstrate our values of service, compassion and private sector alternatives to government. Thanks to contributions from our devoted grassroots, it was a huge success! In all, we conducted ten community service projects throughout Prince William County, and even the local press took notice.
We conducted two food bank collections with a local faith-based charity called Streetlight Ministries in Woodbridge. One of our women’s clubs, the Bull Run Republican Women’s Club, led a clothing collection for a transitional housing nonprofit called The B.A.R.N. in Bristow.
One of our Board of County Supervisors, Pete Candland, led a huge outreach event for the second year in a row, called the ‘Walk for Prince William.’ Candland, who was joined by Brentsville Supervisor GOP candidate Jeanine Lawson and other conservative activists, walked 32 miles from one end of our County to the other end, Woodbridge to Haymarket, to raise funds and collect food for five County food banks in May.
In June, the Committee performed two community service projects for a “Day of Summer Service” – one with the ACTS Homeless Shelter in Dumfries and the other with the Bull Run Wounded Warrior Retreat in Haymarket. In August, the Committee conducted a back-to-school supply drive for two low-income schools in Woodbridge. And then to close out the Initiative, the Committee supported a holiday food drive, led by the Bull Run Republican Women’s Club and a Veterans Day Dinner, led by Prince William County Republican Women’s Club.
During our Initiative, we set out to partner with local private sector entities who were serving veterans, protecting vulnerable women and children, or helping people become self-sufficient. For example, the ACTS Shelter doesn’t just provide meals for the homeless, they conduct job interview training and personal financial literacy education.
It was incredible to interact with County residents across the County during this initiative. Many were surprised to find out that we were Republicans! We used the interactions to educate County residents about our values. And you’d be surprised with how many non-Republicans actually agreed with our approach to reducing poverty. Rather than creating new government programs that discourage upward mobility and drive poor people into greater poverty, we support a culture that promotes self-sufficiency, economic opportunity and individual responsibility. Rather than raising taxes to support a new unfunded mandate, we support efforts that walk alongside those in need to help them get an education, kick destructive addictions, gain employment skills, find work, and build their lives. This is the approach that has fueled Congressman Paul Ryan’s anti-poverty proposals, which gives state and local governments more flexibility to use welfare funds to support self-sufficiency programs, rather than fund federal welfare benefits. Center for Neighborhood Enterprises President and civil rights leader Bob Woodson has taken Ryan around the nation to show him local private-sector organizations that are succeeding in this space. And Ryan and many public officials have discovered firsthand… it works.
Our community service project was an opportunity for us to serve our neighbors across the County, and thankfully, we came in contact with hundreds of County residents who learned about our values firsthand. I know that many GOP units across the state have engaged their community through service; my hope in writing this is to encourage other Republicans across the Commonwealth to join this movement.
D.J. Jordan is the Vice Chairman of the Prince William County Republican Committee. He also serves on the Virginia State Board of Social Services.
