KFTC Blog

 The Northern Kentucky KFTC chapter recently helped celebrate Maifest with the community by having a table in Mainstrasse! The yearly weekend long festival in Covington is often well attended, features booths from organizations and businesses from throughout the community, carnival rides for families, and music on four different stages.

The festival this year was scheduled the weekend before Kentucky’s primary election, and members saw it as a great place to meet people from throughout the region. The chapter passed out information about www.kentuckyelection.org to more than 200 voters! Members were excited to point to the fact that all 10 candidates for Covington City Commission and 4 candidates for Mayor of Covington responded to our survey, and to talk about various campaigns KFTC is working on statewide.

Many of the members who helped table had joined in the past 6 months and were excited to be able to speak to people in the community about the work the organization is doing. From voting rights, to tax reform, to clean energy, and more, it was a great opportunity for members to feel more comfortable talking about our organization.

Despite an uncharacteristically cold weekend, the chapter was able to recruit 10 new members, register a few voters, and help remind people about the election. With the success of this festival, the chapter is looking forward to similar opportunities on the horizon.

To commemorate Earth Day, the Rowan County KFTC Chapter created new opportunities to raise awareness of the Utica Marcellus Texas Pipeline Project, a.k.a. Kinder Morgan’s proposal to re-purpose the Tennessee Gas Pipeline to carry hazardous natural gas liquids (NGLs).

On Friday, April 22, chapter members set up a table outside of the Fuzzy Duck, a local coffee shop and bookstore in downtown Morehead, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. provided patrons and passers-by with information about the dangers of NGLs and the perils of repurposing a seventy year-old pipeline.

Those who stopped to talk were given helpful handouts and recent news articles on the re-purposing project as well as copies of Balancing the Scales and promotional materials for KFTC.

As luck would have it, one of the U.S. Senate candidates was stopping by the same business while on the campaign trail that Friday, so the chapter was able to speak to the local press covering the candidate’s visit.

On Thursday evening, a sold-out crowd gathered in the Corsair Distillery in Bowling Green for the first of six community dinner conversations about Kentucky’s energy future.

“We believe all Kentuckians deserve a seat at the table and a say in shaping our energy future,” said KFTC chairperson Dana Beasley Brown.

The event, called A Seat At The Table, was hosted by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth to gather public input about the best ways for Kentucky to begin a transition to a clean energy economy.

The diverse group of one hundred participants enjoyed a meal of locally grown food provided by the Pie Queen of Bowling Green and music from the local band Mud Blossom Special. After a brief presentation about Kentucky’s energy landscape, the program shifted to facilitated conversations at each table. 

Those conversations began with a chance for everyone to share a 3-minute story about some part of their relationship with Kentucky’s energy system. Then each table discussed three key questions:

What is your vision for Kentucky’s energy future – and why?

What do you think that will take? What would help?

What are your best ideas to ensure that all Kentuckians can benefit from Kentucky’s energy transition and are not left behind?

But I’m not on the payroll of a big corporation. I’m a homegrown, grassroots lobbyist. I work for you, and every Kentuckian who believes that we deserve a bright future.

I joined Kentuckians For The Commonwealth to work for change on renters’ rights and other issues that matter to me. And this year I participated in the Kentucky General Assembly for the first time. With KFTC, I got to sit down with legislators and talk about policy – including renters’ rights – in a way I didn’t know was possible.

KFTC celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. This was my first time to lobby, but KFTC members have been working together in Frankfort and across the state for more than three decades. Our investment in KFTC makes it possible.

Here’s how you can support grassroots voices this year and help KFTC start our next 35 years strong. Invest in KFTC during our spring campaign!

Become a Sustaining Giver. Build New Power with a recurring gift. Small monthly donations add up to a deeper investment and a bigger impact. 

Renew your membership today. You can also make a one-time gift of any size to renew your membership and support this important work for another year. 

Join KFTC. As our numbers grow, so does our power.

Thank you for investing in the Kentucky we know is possible!