National advocacy group looks for interested families to be area Grange charter members

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A national family social and advocacy organization is hoping to make inroads into the Charles City area, looking for people of all ages interested in community service and issues ranging from local to worldwide.

Amanda Brozana Rios, the membership and communications director for the Grange, was making stops in northeast Iowa this week, spreading information and looking for interest in forming an area chapter of the organization.

The website for the National Grange describes it as a family, community organization with its roots in agriculture. Founded in 1867 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the Grange began as “a national organization with a local focus.”

“Our members are given the opportunity to learn and grow to their full potential as citizens and leaders,” says the website, nationalgrange.org.

“The Grange has been instrumental in bringing about avenues for rural access from rural mail delivery to electricity; supporting social reform including women’s suffrage; and assisting groups such as the deaf and hard-of hearing through financial contributions and awareness campaigns,” it says.

Rios said the Grange is open to everyone in the family, with full membership available at age 13½.

Some of the things “charter members” of a new area group could expect are:

• Opportunities to learn through their lifetime.
• Investing in the future through mentoring, youth civic engagement and leadership development opportunities.
• Finding new ways to serve neighbors and communities.
• Fellowship and fun.
• Nonpartisan, issue-based civil discussions.
• Legislative updates targeted for small-town America and those involved in all aspects of agriculture, including consumers.

Rios said the organization is based on grassroots-level “bottom-up” advocacy, including looking at ways in which national regulations and policies affect local families, businesses and consumers.

“The Grange looks locally as well as globally,” she said. “We want to help insure we can feed 8 billion mouths on the planet, but also insure our neighbors can put food on the table.”

Right now, she said, she’s trying to get people in the area to reach out to her, to tell her what they’re interested in and when they might be available. She is looking at potential meeting space near Nashua, but it could be elsewhere, depending on interest.

To contact Rios, send a message to membership@nationalgrange.org or text 301-943-1090.

Rios said she got involved in the Grange personally when she learned about it as an agriculture reporter working in Pennsylvania. She said she appreciated the fact that the group is inclusive, non-partisan, non-denominational, open to the whole family, and that it has included men and women since its founding.

She said it’s an opportunity for parents to work on issues they are interested in alongside their children, and pass down values that are important to them — something that can sometimes be difficult when parents and children are always busy with different activities.

Policies the Grange is interested in include agriculture, conservation, citizenship, taxation, education, health, law, the judiciary, transportation and personal growth and development, and there are four levels of involvement, in community, county, state and national.

Those who want to get more involved can attend the annual Grange national convention and become leaders in the national Grange organization, Rios said.

Although the Grange is open to all ages, younger kids age 5 to 13 can also have their own programs in Junior Grange, which promotes community service, social activities, contests and personal and group projects.

She gave the example of a younger Grange group that took on a project involving corn hole games, including designing, building and decorating the boards and bags, holding a tournament and then deciding where the proceeds of the tournament would go.

Older youths, age 13½ to 21, have opportunities for scholarships, leadership training and mentoring younger members.

Rios said she’d like to hold informational meetings about Grange online and in person in September or October, and more details will be available then.

“It’s not only for farmers,” she said. “It’s for people who are concerned about sustainable communities. We’re looking for folks interested in making an impact in their communities, and doing good together as a family.”