Duluthian Uses Big Instagram Following to Teach Government Studies And Give Back
DULUTH, Minn. – A Duluth woman is using her background as a former U.S. government studies teacher to not only educate her large Instagram following, but to do some good as well.
Sharon McMahon spent years teaching U.S. government studies in different corners of the country and now runs a photography business in Duluth.
This past fall, her passion for education resurfaced in a new form.
“Starting back in October, I started putting up some little videos about how things like how the electoral college work, factual, informational, nonpartisan government education videos and now I have just been teaching full-time on Instagram for the past few months about what’s been going on in our country,” McMahon explained.
She now has more than 370,000 followers on Instagram and counting on her account @sharonsaysso.
“One of the things that I know has sort of fueled the trajectory growth is a fundraiser that I started back in December,” she said.
McMahon realized that with a growing reach to people far and wide, she could raise money through Venmo and PayPal, to then give out to those financially hurting from the pandemic or otherwise.
She believed she might be able to raise a few thousand dollars. But her expectations were shattered when she hit $125,000 in fundraising.
“Some of the money stayed locally to Duluth, some of it went to people all over the country,” McMahon said. “We were able to help some organizations that work with the homeless, homeless youth, battered women’s shelters people like that locally. We were able to connect with a group of social workers here in Duluth who were able to nominate some families who needed help.”
Her latest good deed is rallying her followers to write thank-you cards from wherever they are in America to the federal employees who had to clean up the trash, broken glass, and even blood, urine, and feces left all over the U.S. Capitol on January 6th from rioters.
“It truly was just like an absolute pit in your stomach watching and wondering what was going to happen,” McMahon said as she described watching the riot.
The cleanup crews had to work lightning-fast so Congress could get back to certifying the election results later that night.
“When you look at the timeline of when the Capitol building got cleaned up and Congress was able to resume, it was well after normal business hours…everybody just showed up to uphold the Constitution,” McMahon said. “It really just struck me as these people are doing this job for us. The Capitol belongs to all of us, and doing a job none of us would like to do [cleaning up].”
In many ways, America may still feel like a deeply divided country, but McMahon, with her extensive knowledge of history, believes there are brighter days ahead.
“America has lived through a lot worse than this and come out on the other side a stronger, more resilient nation,” she said. “You know we fought a war against each other over the right to own people, so things have actually been significantly worse than they are today in this moment, and I truly have no reservation about my optimism for America. If there is one group of people I would bet on, it is Americans.”
If you would like to send a thank-you card to the federal employees who cleaned up the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, you can mail them to:
Architect of the Capitol
US Capitol
Room SB-16
Washington, D.C. 20515
Email: communications@aoc.gov
Or you can mail letters to their union at:
Local 626
Ford House Office Building
2nd St NW
Washington, D.C. 20024
Email: localbamma@gmail.com
