Grace Church in Medford organized a letter-writing campaign on Feb. 12 to protest proposed MBTA
fare increases and service cuts. The church's "Greening Grace" environmental group has been working on reducing energy usage at church and doing environmental outreach in the community, and the letter-writing campaign seemed a natural extension of that ministry, explained member Catherine Smith.
"We were aware that many, many people in Medford rely on MBTA service to commute to work and get around without cars. The service cuts would be devastating to our community," she said. Following a presentation of information from the MBTA Web site, the group wrote and signed letters to the MBTA and state legislators. Parish children decorated the envelopes. "We set up a few laptops but otherwise relied on pen and paper," she said, adding that there was plenty of pre-Valentine's Day chocolate to keep everyone motivated. "If other churches are interested in doing this, it was very easy to organize and could be a good coffee hour event," she said.