Boston’s spirit of giving on full display this holiday season
The Salvation Army would like to say thank you to the entire community for your overwhelming generosity during our Christmas and bell-ringing campaign. The change you dropped in our kettles, the time you volunteered to distribute toys or clothing or ring the bell, and the check you mailed — all were appreciated. Your unending kindness helped tens of thousands of your neighbors in need. This past Christmas, our Boston-South End Corps alone provided toys and coats to more than 5,500 households, or 18,000 individuals — and we have 12 such locations in the Greater Boston area.
We would also like to say thank you from those whom The Salvation Army helps year-round, those we see every day that turn to the Army for food, shelter, emergencies, disaster relief, education, rehabilitation, worship and a new beginning. We speak for the seniors without a family and the family without a home. We speak for those who feel they no longer have a voice in society. We’re able to provide the support they need to regain that voice thanks to you.
Please know we simply could not do this work without you. Because of you, The Salvation Army is the shelter of hope that so many in our community turn to daily. Please accept our gratitude and theirs. As one of our early leaders stated, “There is no reward equal to that of doing the most good to the most people in need.”
Majors William and Joan Bode
Divisional Commanders, Massachusetts Division
Time for politicians to make poverty a priority
I just finished reading Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s column regarding Sen. Barack Obama’s popularity among blacks in the country (“Blacks’ support no sure thing for Obama,” Opinion, Feb. 1, 2007). Some of us think the only ones that can help us to achieve anything are whites. Maybe I’m wrong in my perception. However, we seem to accept those who make empty promises more readily if they’re white. Bill Clinton may have done some good things to help poor blacks — I don’t dispute this. But after Hurricane Katrina, we found out that New Orleans was home to the poorest blacks in the nation. Didn’t they exist during his tenure?
Why do we still have such poverty in this country among our race? I just watched an ABC news report narrated by Diane Sawyer (“Waiting on the World to Change,” airdate Jan. 26, 2007) that focused on the poverty and devastation among poor blacks in New Jersey. When will someone really focus on the poor, who really have no one speaking about their plight? Where is the Congressional Black Caucus on these issues?
Maybe we need to re-evaluate our thoughts about who does the most for us.
P.S.: Please don’t refer to Jesse Jackson as one of our black leaders. That is a blanket statement. Some of us resent it.
Pat Galloway
Via e-mail
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