Donations, even from Joe Redner, benefit the community
Letters to the Editor
Published November 15, 2005
Donations, even from Joe Redner, benefit the community
Re: Furor threatens benefit for kids, Nov. 12.
The Times reported that Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms is working to stop Redner Enterprises from donating money and sponsoring a charity event for poor and abused children.
Regardless of which and what kind of legal "enterprises" Joe Redner is involved with, I have to applaud his generosity. All businesses and entrepreneurs make donations to charities out of the goodness of their hearts, and for the tax benefit. Why should Redner be denied the same opportunity?
If Commissioner Storms doesn't have the good sense to understand that the donations would benefit those who deserve and need the money, then she should resign. We don't need any more misguided ignorance in our local politics, we already have enough as it is.
My challenge to the commissioner is this: If you don't want Joe Redner to donate money to the bay area's worthy causes, then you can replace every cent of his money with the money in your own wallet!
-- Robin Schumaker, Tampa
Setting a bad example
So Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms is offended, and a worthy event is on the verge of cancellation. Some of Joe Redner's "Enterprises" may not have the greatest reputation, but then again, neither does the Hillsborough County Commission (as shown by recent actions of Storms, Brian Blair, Jim Norman, etc.).
The big difference is Redner is setting an example by giving back to the community that helped make him a success. That's a nice example to set.
The only example set by Ronda Storms is that if you are narrow-minded, hateful and petty, you get plenty of publicity and the admiration of a constituency who rewards that kind of behavior. Brian Blair has already picked up that lesson.
I guess that's what passes for "moral" values these days.
-- Thomas Sweeney, Land O'Lakes
Who's doing the exploiting?
Re: Furor threatens benefit for kids.
I find it ironic that Ronda Storms' justification for sabotaging the Auctions for Angels fundraiser is concern about the exploitation of children. Storms claims that "Any time it looks to me like a child is being exploited ... then I'm going to address that."
And so she has. Destroying a charity event to pursue her personal vendettas and petty political agenda has resulted in robbing children of money they so badly need and has made her the one guilty of exploiting children.
Ronda Storms, shame on you!
-- Gideon Reese, Largo
Devil's money put to good use
Re: Furor threatens benefit for kids.
Bill Varian's Saturday article brought to mind a happening I witnessed in my early teens, early in the last century, early in the era of Prohibition. Bootleggers were active in the county and were mostly on speaking terms with the general population of the community in which they lived.
The local minister was canvassing the community seeking funds for the various projects under his guidance. He approached a motley group of gentlemen on a bench in front of the community store. As he pleaded his case to this group, the local bootlegger held out a 20-dollar bill (big money in those days), and said: "I'll be glad to donate but in your sermons you refer to this as the devil's money so you probably won't accept it."
The preacher responded: "Oh yes I will!" He grabbed the $20 and continued: "The devil has had it long enough, so let the Lord do some good with it."
-- Hartley Steeves, Tampa
Preserve the right to choose
Re: Mail carriers fired, at bulk rate, Nov. 11.
What a blow to freedom and the right to choose. The mail carriers should receive a gold medal for good judgment and service to their customers. The manager should be discharged for failure to properly manage his personnel, poor judgment, causing a public controversy, embarrassing the Postal Service and not resolving a management problem in the proper way.
The universal "spam" problem can be controlled on the Internet, yet our own government Postal Service, which physically handles the mail, cannot control it.
The mail carriers should be reinstated with honor and rewarded for service to the public. Current management should resolve this age-old problem, and if they can't, get someone who can.
-- Richard E. Dornblaser, Clearwater
Let's reduce postal trash
Re: Mail carriers fired, at bulk rate.
I can't believe what I'm reading. Since when does the post office get to tell customers what mail they have to accept? And to punish the carriers for following their customers wishes? Ridiculous.
Just the night before reading this article I was trying to think of how I might stop garbage from being deposited in our mailbox. I get home from work only to find it stuffed full, once again, with junk I did not ask for. There was not one "real" piece of mail in the bunch.
I have paperless billing on all my utilities to save trees, to cut down on trash sent to the landfill and to keep my life and home organized.
Kudos to the carriers who really believe in the old adage, "The customer is always right!"
-- Heather Byrd, St. Petersburg
A positive light on Muslims
Re: Seamlessly woven into our community: 45,000 Muslims .
I very much appreciated Sandra Thompson's Nov. 12 column on the Muslim Eid celebrations in the bay area. It's important to highlight an ever-growing minority, such as the Muslim community, especially its diverse and peaceful nature.
As self-styled experts and pundits continue to spout negative representations of Muslims because of the precarious global environment in which we live, it is important for newspapers to provide readers a reminder of the humanity of those trying to peacefully integrate into our society as so many other groups have before.
-- Jordan Robinson, Riverview
A unique religious festival
Re: Seamlessly woven into our community: 45,000 Muslims .
Your newspaper proved, one more time, the importance of community activities. Sandra Thompson presented a fair and unbiased report on the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr.
She gave a true picture of the local Muslim community in the area. Devotees from various parts of the world pray like one body. It is unique.
I admire the high standard of journalism that the newspaper has maintained.
-- Mustafa Alvi, Land O'Lakes
[Last modified November 15, 2005, 03:00:33]
