SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 ISSUE
Letters to the Editor
WANT TO COMMENT ON OUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR?
Click to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/highcountrypress.
Community Care Clinic Thanks 5K Participants, Sponsors
Dear Editor:
The Community Care Clinic would like to thank all those in the community who came out for our first annual 5K Fun Run/Walk at Brookshire Park on Saturday, August 7. We had really good food and fabulous raffle prizes. Individuals and families who came had a great time while getting some early morning exercise in a beautiful spot.
A special thanks to our sponsors: Watauga County Health Carolinians, High Country United Way, ASU Institute for Health and Human Services, Footsloggers, River Girl Fishing Company, The Mast Farm Inn, Valle Crucis Farm, Nathan Dotson of StoneFly Outfitters, Earth Fare, Panera Bread, Stick Boy Bread Company and the Children’s Playhouse. Your sponsorship made the event possible.
Thank you to the Watauga County Rescue Squad for providing first aid coverage. And last but not least, thank you to Sherri Wilson, Bryan Belcher and all those who served on the planning committee and volunteered the day of the event. We couldn’t have done it without your help!
We appreciate the businesses, community groups and individuals who, through your participation in this annual event, make it possible to provide direct services to those who depend on us for health care.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Moore, MA
Executive Director
Community Care Clinic Thanks Mountain Home Music
I would like to thank Joe Shannon and the Mountain Home Music community for putting on a wonderful concert last Sunday, August 22, to benefit the Community Care Clinic. The sanctuary at Grace Lutheran Church was full, and the music was fabulous.
Thank you to Grace Lutheran Church for hosting the concert and to the musicians who donated their time and talent to entertain all who attended: The Forget-Me-Nots; Steve Lewis; Mary Greene; Upright & Breathin’; Sarah Borders and Connie Woolard; and of course, Joe Shannon.
Finally, thank you to all who attended the concert and contributed when the hat was passed so that the clinic can continue to provide healthcare to persons in our community who do not have health insurance. We appreciate your generosity and sustained support of our mission.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Moore
Executive Director
Community Care Clinic
Most Americans Want a Job, Not a Handout
We met Dan Soucek recently—a very articulate and attractive young man. When I read the card he handed out, I wondered why he was running as a Republican.
Soucek wants to create jobs and remove obstacles to small business, reduce taxes and cut wasteful spending. He wants to promote wind, solar, natural gas and other new technologies and improve education and affordable quality healthcare. I could vote for a man with these intentions. They are things President Obama has already addressed and has begun to implement (with little or no help from Republicans).
But then Dan began a discussion with me and my husband. He was speaking against giving poor people a government "handout" because that makes them dependent and they won't show initiative (not a direct quote, but the gist of his speech). We were hosts at a community fundraiser and it didn't seem the appropriate time and place to argue. I hope he reads this paper.
I wanted to ask him if he or any in his family had ever been poor and, in spite of trying to build a better life, just couldn't get ahead. I wanted to ask him who paid for his outstanding education at West Point and if he still has quality healthcare via the VA. He served his country and he is entitled to it. But in most civilized countries, quality healthcare is available to all citizens (and visitors) for little or no cost. I wanted to ask him how he equates his attitude toward poor people with Samaritan's Purse? It's not just poor people in foreign countries who need a "handout.”
When corporations began to send work that used to pay well to foreign countries where labor is cheap, jobs began to disappear. Since our economy began to plunge in 2008, millions more American workers have lost good jobs, and corporations are not hiring until they decide it's profitable for them.
Most Americans don't want a handout—they just want a good job and their dignity back.
My parents lived through the Great Depression. The county could not pay my father who was a country school teacher. They gave him pieces of paper that he could use to get some things our family needed—like food.
Neighbors gave us chickens and produce and an unoccupied house to live in (with holes in the floor). This would have been humiliating to my father, but everyone was in the same boat. Are we all going to find ourselves in this boat again? Only if the millionaires and billionaires and corporations have their way. It's time to lower the taxes on those who make less than $250,000 per year and raise it incrementally on those who make more. (By the way, the CBO says that only 2% of small business owners earn more than $250,000 per year.) It's time to hire people to improve our railroads, roads, bridges, etc. It's time to improve schools and solar, wind and other new technologies. It's time to give all Americans access to affordable quality healthcare. Yes, Dan—I agree with you there. But I don't believe that most of our unemployed are waiting for a handout. They're just getting by the best they can until there are job openings again.
Alice Andrews
Sugar Grove
EDITOR'S NOTE: High Country Press does not verify the information in the letters to the editor submitted to the newspaper and does not endorse the positions expressed in the letters. The opinions and assertions are those of the writers alone.
SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Please keep letters to a 400-word maximum. Letters containing personal attacks, obscene language, or name calling will not be printed. Issues-oriented letters are always welcome. Letters must include the writer's name and phone number for verification purposes.
Email your letters to: info@highcountrypress.com
Or mail directly to: High Country Press · PO BOX 152 · Boone, NC 28607
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
