Gentlemen:
I have read your web sites with great interest. Over the years we
have collected items of value that have grown out of use. We put them away in storage with the hope of donating them to
useful causes in the future. We have held on to things for this
purpose, particularly, because we have grown disillusioned with venues
that claim to benefit the poor. In some cases, we have learned that our
donated items ended up "for sale" to the very people that we wanted to
give them for free. Or that they get liquidated at auctions and line
the pockets of guess who. To use an English phrase, "Queen Victoria is
not amused." In keeping with the virtues extolled by Our Lord, we seek
to benefit those in need. Not those in greed (insert winky face).
This sentiment comes from our worldly travels and may not apply to
your community. However, experience is a cruel teacher and we bear the
scars of Moby Dick. Hence, our policy for the future is a studied one.
According to your web sites (all of which we have read and retain),
a local man froze to death in his car during an ice storm in 1999. He
had no place to live or go for warmth. Your four county region suffers a
burgeoning plague of homeless destitutes.
To this we must add that your school "systems" are turning out
people who can barely read a road sign. Crime and corruption are rampant
in your streets. Women are raped, murdered and discarded on the sides
of your roads. Your "crime fighting" files are full of cold cases to
which most have turned a blind eye. "To hell in a hand basket" is a
mild way to put it. We give thanks that our forebears are not here to
see what has become of their beloved home lands.
Growing up here, such things were unheard of. Even during the
"great depression" of the 30's, our area was known for its humanitarian
largesse. My family farm fed many a foot-weary traveler during those
times. The abundance of these river basins filled our silos. Our fruit
cellars were full of canned orchards and summer gardens. My family knew no hunger during those times and was little
affected by a fabricated financial dark age that starved millions. Our
farm was self-sustaining. Feeding not just our family and animals, but
many others in need. This spirit of "love thy neighbor as thyself" has
largely disappeared. If this were not so, that man would never have
perished from the cold in our town.
In the spirit of my great Christian family, I seek a virtuous venue
for the fruits of our labors. Be they the bounty of our summer gardens
or the wealth of our coffers. It breaks our hearts to learn how this
area has degenerated in 50 years: into sleaze-bag decadence, jaded
city-rat selfishness and corporate greed.
Please share this text with those who can read. And God help us.
