Trudy Berry has announced her candidacy for this year’s General Election. She is running for delegate for the 61st District of the Virginia General Assembly. District 61 includes all of Amelia, Cumberland, Mecklenburg, and Nottoway counties, and most of Lunenburg County.

In her announcement, she said that “people want change. They want policies that keep our environment clean and bring more jobs and affordable health care options to our rural communities.” Those, she said, “and enhancing our education system,” are her key issues.

She noted that “many storefronts stand empty, and much of the available work is part time with no paid benefits. This limits the tax base and puts a strain on social services funding, while the cost of goods and services continues to rise and leads municipal leaders to rely on waste disposal companies to fund their budgets. This practice is turning Virginia into the nation’s landfill and is destroying our environment.”

As delegate, she said she “will work to protect our natural resources, historical buildings and cemeteries, and family homes and land from destructive landfills and fossil fuel operations, appropriate more funds to strengthen our infrastructure, obtain equitable funding for our schools, reduce health care costs, and establish a minimum living wage.” Funding schools and infrastructure is important to her. She believes that “a well educated workforce and the services required for 21st century business, such as reliable, widespread internet and cellphone service, are needed for our communities to prosper.”

Berry said that “people have the right to a clean environment and to be treated equally, with dignity and respect.” She wants to remind people that they “have the power to turn the page and start a new chapter to move us forward toward equality, justice, and the protection of rights and freedoms for all Virginians.” Most importantly, she said, is that “if people don’t vote for change, change won’t happen.”

She said she is a lifelong learner and no stranger to hard work. She was inducted into the National Honor Society and received the John and Elizabeth Whitely Business Award in high school. She graduated magna cum laude from Longwood University and received two Citizen Leader awards and was inducted into three honor societies. She also spent five years as secretary of the Lunenburg County Chamber of Commerce before stepping down to run for delegate. She is an active member of Friends of the Victoria Public Library, serving as secretary of that organization.

Berry was born in Michigan and lived in California, Maryland, the Philippines, and other parts of Virginia before moving to Lunenburg County in 1998. She is a veteran, having served in the Air Force from 1974 until honorably discharged in 1978.

For more information visit trudyberry.com or Facebook at fb.me/trudyberryfordelegate.