While I wasn’t born in New Jersey, I consider myself a Jersey girl. I will blast Bon Jovi while driving down to Belmar and Seaside. I’ve always been proud to be from New Jersey like so many great others. But with shows like The Jersey Shore and Real Housewives of New Jersey, all of us living in The Garden State are getting a bad rap. In the midst of juiceheads and table flippers, there is one person who stands out as New Jersey’s superhero.
Cory Booker is the mayor of Newark and recently accepted the challenge of living on food stamps for a week. Each day, Booker blogged about his experiences and his struggle to find decent food on such a budget. Booker’s meals included sweet potatoes, canned beans and canned vegetables. He even debated mixing mayo, mustard and salsa together to make soup! He wanted to complete the challenge in order to fully understand what people who live on food stamps go through. Below is an excerpt from Booker’s blog where he shares alarming facts about people living on food stamps.
Even before Booker decided to participate in the SNAP challenge, he set the example for all New Jerseyans. He takes his job as mayor very seriously and works diligently to communicate with members of the Newark community. Booker has a very strong presence on Twitter. He responds to his own tweets with honest answers and provides correct information when necessary. During Hurricane Sandy, he gave out information about shelter locations and updates about electricity. There were multiple times when Booker received negative tweets but he always responded with positivity and tried to see the other tweeter’s perspective on that specific situation.
Many politicians lack integrity and don’t necessarily believe in what they preach. Cory Booker defies this stereotype by listening to his community, believing in honesty and communicating his ideas clearly. He also understands the value of social media by actively participating in conversations on Twitter and writing on his blog regularly. I am proud to have Cory Booker as part of the New Jersey government and hope he continues to work hard and inspire people. If we’re lucky, he’ll make a run for president in 2016!
Tagged: Cory Booker, Food Stamps, Inspiration, Mayor, New Jersey, Newark, SNAP Challenge, Superhero
The Rockstar Diaries 
[…] Depending on the level of fame, celebrities can run their own Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. accounts. On one hand, it makes their communications more personal; people feel connected with the individual, not just their Twitter feed. Cory Booker runs a successful, personal Twitter account and really converses with people. To find out more about how he does this, check out my post here. […]