Who Is Eileen Cunningham?

My VIP for this week is Eileen Cunningham, mother of four, grandmother of three, natural athlete, coach at children’s school, engineer, substitute teacher, and political volunteer extraordinaire. Salena Zito shared the following information about Cunningham in her article published at The Daily Signal. 

When you are someone such as Cunningham, you never really lose that desire to bring people together for a common cause, educate them, and hope you have made some sort of positive impact on their lives….

Recently, the petite former softball star was dressed in a classic black sheath dress, a soft pink jacket, and cherry fuchsia flats. She sat alone at a round table, list in hand, in a room filled with grassroots volunteers from the Westmoreland County Republican Party. They were interested in learning from her about getting people registered to vote in Western Pennsylvania.

It is likely a harder job than managing two dozen 12-year-old girls getting ready for a softball tournament. However, in her talk, she managed to show the other volunteers that it need not be as intimidating. Even when you are rejected, as long as you are informed and kind, and find a commonality with the person, she believes what really matters is getting people to vote.

Cunningham is a one-woman operation. She inspires others to join her, going either door to door or setting up and manning booths at county fairs, fall festivals, and maple syrup tappings. She makes a difference one person at a time, one vote at a time, one new registration at a time, without ever making a fuss about herself….

Cunningham registered 500 people between July and November last year. She also made sure they got their voter-registration card, and then texted them reminders to vote. If you don’t think that number matters all that much, just remember that new Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., only defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey by 0.2 percentage points.

“One voter matters,” she says with a broad smile.

Cunningham is a difference-maker – and not just as a mother, daughter, wife, and coach. She uses her talent to inspire people in a welcoming way for the most important civic engagement we do in American life; namely, grassroots volunteering….

She and thousands of people just like her across the country are the foundation of movements. When you look for the “beating heart” of this country, it is volunteers such as Cunningham who quietly make the biggest difference to election outcomes and shape policy decisions at all levels of government.