Special thanks to Wally Haas, the editor in chief at the Rockford Register Star, for running my guest column on the Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday campaign in Sunday’s paper. I think far too often those of us involved in health and development on the coasts are disconnected from people living in the heartland of America (like my dear homestate of Illinois).

Writing the column was a great opportunity to hopefully get more folks involved from in and around Rockford, IL, where I grew up. The more we can connect with people from all 50 states, and greater the chance of policymakers from their respective states will take notice & support our continued efforts to end preventable child deaths.

I’d love to hear thoughts and feelings from others who work in development, or who have a personal interest in the topic but maybe don’t see much on global health and development in their hometown publications. What’s the best way to engage all Americans (not just those living in San Fran, Seattle, LA, NYC, Boston and DC) on campaigns like #5thbday?