This is a letter of appreciation and appeal: appreciation for the many residents who give so unselfishly to those in our community who are less fortunate. You give your time, your energy, your resources to provide food, clothing, shelter, medical care, transportation. You make a difference. Thank you.
My appeal is to those of you who regard the needy with indifference, somehow blaming them for their circumstances. You want to deny that we actually have homeless people in our midst. As you celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, humbly and honestly ask yourself if anyone in this community deserves--actually deserves--to starve or freeze to death.
Some of you are very opposed to having a shelter for the homeless in the Williamsburg area. Why? A shelter could enable a homeless person to become employable. With proper food, rest, a shower, clean clothes, access to a telephone, and an address, he/she would be an acceptable candidate for employment.
People do need people. When we open our hearts to each other, good things happen.
Ann B. Moore