KID REPORT
August 31, 2004
Taking a “Working Break” from the Republican Convention
Kid Reporters interview Senator Elizabeth Dole at an event to help the hungry
 Henry and Danny interview Senator Elizabeth Dole. |
 |  |
Our morning began at a meeting between TIME reporters and editors and Karl Rove, one of the President’s top political advisers. At the end of the meeting, we both got to ask him a question:
Henry: I live in Pennsylvania, and the President has been there many times. Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs are a real battleground area. As the President’s political strategist, what advice do you give him in his efforts to win that state?Rove: Visit it often and talk about the big issues. Particularly in Southeastern Pennsylvania, (I’ve told the President to) talk about his education reforms and conservation initiatives.
Danny: You’re often referred to as the President’s brain. How do you respond to that?
Rove: I think that’s generally said by the people who don’t want to acknowledge that he is one of the smartest and brightest people who has ever had the job. So they have to find an excuse to put his brain in someone else’s body.
Visiting a Soup Kitchen
Later in the afternoon, Danny and I went to an event at the Father’s Heart Ministries, a food pantry and soup kitchen in Lower Manhattan. The soup kitchen is one of 50,000 agencies nationwide receiving food from the charity America’s Second Harvest.
|  Senator Elizabeth Dole (center) and others bag cans of food for the hungry. |
America’s Second Harvest and Father's Heart Ministries planned the event around the Republican Convention. Second Harvest also held an event in Boston, Massachusetts, during the Democratic Convention. The organization hopes to bring attention to America’s hunger problem. About 23 million people in the U.S. don’t have enough food to eat—9 million of the hungry are children.
Taking a “working break” from their convention activities, Senator Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina, and Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson, of Missouri, rolled up their sleeves to help out.
Working to Eliminate Hunger
Both Emerson and Dole have made eliminating hunger one of their top priorities in Congress. They joined dozens of other volunteers in the sweltering afternoon heat, packaging canned peaches, peanut butter and other healthful foods. The bags of food were later distributed to New York City families in need. In all, volunteers prepared about 350 bags!
After the work was done, Dole addressed the group of volunteers and journalists. She recalled her years working with the Red Cross, when she saw firsthand the terrible suffering caused by hunger.
|  Henry and Danny interview Representative Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri. |
“It haunts me that we have people that are hungry in the U.S.,” Dole said. Then she thanked the volunteers for their efforts, saying, “We’re here on a mission. What we’re doing here is a great act of love and compassion.” At the end of the day, before returning to the convention, Dole launched her own campaign: “We can eliminate hunger!”
As Senator Dole rushed out the door to prepare for her speech at the convention, she stopped briefly to talk with us:
Henry: You mentioned the experiences you had working for the Red Cross. What motivated you to move from the Red Cross to politics?Dole: I served as president of the Red Cross for eight years. While there, I had an opportunity to make a number of changes that I think were helpful to the organization. (As a result), people suggested that I try to run for president of the United States. So I decided that I would give it a try and help move the ball forward for women.
Danny: You are often called one of the most admired women in America. Considering all that you have accomplished, how would you like to be remembered?
Dole: I would like to be remembered as a person who was willing to give back.
