Congressman Nick Langworthy steps up for popular artist and philanthropist
From Staff Reporting,
Eric Jones had never met his representative in Congress, Nick Langworthy, but he reached out to him when he lost his Facebook page.
Losing the page came at the worst time. Jones had just launched his new charity, creationsforkids.com and he couldn’t reach his 25,000 followers who help his posts reach millions.
He heard the old joke, “To get something like this done, it would take an act of Congress.”
So Jones reached out to Brian Abram (constituent specialist) and Christine Rinaldi (deputy district director) at Langworthy’s Jamestown office. Within weeks, his page was restored.
The issue happened when there was a complaint about a Bob Ross method class. Facebook ruled the claim was unfounded, but still took his page down. Jones is an expert on copyright and imaging, so he was surprised by the situation.
“When I called the Jamestown office, they knew who I was and they said Nick Langworthy was familiar with my work,” Jones said. “I didn’t hear anything for a few day, I figured they were blowing me off. But then I received one update, and then another that he was going to file legislation. Nick and his team took immediate action and made contact with the right people at Meta. They fought diligently to restore my ‘voice.’
Jones added, “I thought it was cool the page was restored just in time to carve the 1,750-pound pumpkin on Main Street in Wellsville. We had visitors from three states and I could not believe the stories they told when it came to driving to Wellsville to see the art.”
Langworthy said it’s something they try to do for all constituents:
“I take constituent service seriously. My motto is simple: No problem is too big, and no problem is too small. When someone calls my office for help, that problem might be the biggest thing going on in their life, and we take that seriously,” Langworthy said. “Eric Jones is a talented artist who does incredible work for kids and families facing tough challenges. I was glad we could step in and help him get his Facebook account back so he could get back to doing what he does best.”
Jones said Langworthy”s office did not want anything in return, from a sculpture to a new story. Jones is a Food Network champion for carving pumpkins and food displays and has been a regular on NFL broadcasts with his sand and snow sculptures as well as pumpkins. He recently did caricatures for a charity event.
“Businesses and charities like mine rely heavily on our socials as a marketing platform. This is our ‘town square.’ I do what I do because you follow, like, share and care. My Congressman understood the urgency and went to bat for me. THAT is representation. I don’t play politics, it’s too divisive, but in this case, Congressman Langworthy’s office stepped up and used their influence for good. And that is worth mentioning.”
Langworthy added, “This term, we’ve handled more than 2,000 constituent cases, from issues like Eric’s to Social Security delays and veterans’ benefits. Whether it’s a big problem or a small one, we’re here to help people across Western New York and the Southern Tier, and we’re going to keep fighting for them.”
Love Eric Jones work? Be sure to connect with him on Facebook!! Read about Eric’s recent amazing work on Main Street Wellsville below:
