Edwards: President Needs to Help Americans Understand the Value of Nonprofits

Stating that he felt “many Americans don’t make the connection that when government cuts funding for programs there is a direct correlation to the direct service that a nonprofit can provide,” Senator John Edwards pledged to be a President that helps Americans “make that connection.”

Edwards offered his thoughts about the importance of strengthening and supporting the nonprofit sector at Wednesday’s popular Politics & Eggs event, held at the Bedford Village Inn in Bedford. Several members of the Nonprofit Primary Project, a national effort being piloted by NHCN to bring the needs of the nonprofit sector into the presidential debate, were on hand to ask Edwards their questions.

Joan Goshgarian, NHCN board member and executive director of the NH Business Committee for the Arts asked the Senator to comment on what he would do to support the sector, noting that people across the nation relied on the sector to address critical issues and provide a vast slate of programs that support healthy community life.

“The nonprofit sector in this country is enormously important, and we need to do everything in our power to support it,” Edwards told the crowd of approximately 200 gathered for what is considered to be a “must do” breakfast stop on the way to the White House. The event is sponsored by the NH Political Library and the New England Council.

Edwards noted that the nonprofit organizations that went to New Orleans after the hurricanes “were far more successful at rebuilding that area than the government.”

Edwards added, “There are many challenges that nonprofits are better capable of handling and a government can do more to support the nonprofit sector.” Edwards said that if elected President, he would “use the bully pulpit to recognize and support the sector.”

Katherine Reno, who has served on nonprofit boards in New Hampshire, urged Edwards to elaborate on what he would do to strengthen the sector.

“We can support the nonprofit sector through tax support,” stated Edwards. The North Carolina Senator reflected on several nonprofit initiatives he and his wife, Elizabeth, have taken part in, noting that he knew that “cuts made at the top, such as the cuts to the community action programs, result in cuts in services.”

Following the event, NHCN Executive Director Mary Ellen Jackson extended the invitation that all candidates have received to meet with members of the sector for a further discussion on the impact, needs, and future of the nonprofit sector.

NH Public Television (NHPTV) will air the complete Politics & Eggs event with John Edwards on Thursday, November 8, at 9 p.m. and then it will be available on the station’s website, www.nhptv.org and on our website, www.nhnonprofits.org. You can also view the entire event as well as events with other presidential candidates by going to the NH Political Library’s website, www.politicallibrary.org and clicking on “Politics & Eggs”.