Beth Katz, director of Project Interfaith in Omaha, thought it was a joke when she received an email inviting her to a meeting with Obama administration officials and to a reception with the president.
It turned out to be real. Katz was invited along with 49 other Americans active in community work.
Then the gathering almost didn’t happen because the government almost shut down over budget wrangling.
Finally on Friday, Katz and her husband, Jesse Lyda, appeared at the White House Conference Center, invitation in hand. And the security guard couldn’t find their names on the guest list.
“I knew it was a joke,” Katz thought of the invite.
Turns out they were merely at the wrong entrance. They found the right door and attended a meeting with leaders from the White House Office of Public Engagement.
“They wanted to recognize the work and the outreach that people active in their respective communities are doing, and to get our views on how they could do a better job of communicating with the average person,” Katz said.
Later, Katz and Lyda attended a White House reception with the president and the other community organization leaders.
“It was heartening to see that there are people in the federal government who genuinely care about what’s going on in communities across the country,” Katz said. “There’s so much polarization and divisiveness coming through in the sound bites.”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1057, christopher.burbach@owh.com
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