Unfettered Letters

Charity runs hinder traffic

Well, summer is here again. Once again on a recent Saturday, I left for work from my home in South Hyde Park only to find that I was effectively barricaded in my own neighborhood because there was some run down Gillham Road.

Every direction I tried to go to get around this, I was directed by security back toward my own home. I was trying to get to the QuikTrip on Main to put gas in my almost-empty vehicle before heading back to 71 Highway for work. Long story short: I ended up being 45 minutes late.

To the city permits department and the organizers of these events: Please consider the impact you are having on the citizens of midtown before you do this again.

If organizations wish to put together these events, Westport High School has a running track behind its building. Mill Creek Park has a wonderful jogging track. Have your events there and leave the streets of Kansas City open to those who need to use them.

Not all of us have weekends free, nor can we wait for your event to end before we go about our business.

Todd Ruser
Kansas City

Dog-n-Jog a tail-wagging success

Thank you to the 1,300 dogs and their people that descended upon the Country Club Plaza on June 8 for Dog-n-Jog. The event raised $55,000 for the homeless pets currently waiting to be adopted from the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City’s no-kill shelter.

Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who worked behind the scenes and on the day of this annual event to make it a success. Thank you to the 30 companies that sponsored the event.

At the Humane Society we see firsthand the thousands of pets cast aside every year. It was inspiring for the staff to see 2,000 people come together to celebrate the special bond between humans and dogs at this event.

Your support of Dog-n-Jog helps bring this community one step closer to becoming a no-kill community.

To learn more about adoptable pets or how you can help save animals’ lives, visit hsgkc.org.

Robin Rowland
Development director, The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City
Kansas City, Kan.

Where is our humanity?

Michael Jones (6/5, Letters, “Gas prices and unemployment”) sounds as if he has done everything expected by civilized society: gainful employment, providing for his family, seeking health care and paying his creditors. And yet, in his words, he is about to become homeless.

Letting “market forces” dictate quality of life is like unleashing a thing without conscience or compassion on society. It is difficult to understand how some see this as the hallmark of “civilized society.”

It would be helpful if The Star or the state attorney generals’ offices would compile a directory of all charitable organizations with descriptions of the goods and services offered and how to make donations of time or money.

So many people in our metropolitan area and our nation are in need of help from their fellow human beings, and “humanity” is the true hallmark of a civilized society.

D.M. Elliott
Prairie Village

Help feed hungry kids in KC

Laura Scott’s commentary regarding childhood obesity and hunger (6/2, Local, “Obese poor children need better nutrition”) was right on several points — anyone who’s ever been on the Atkins diet knows steak is more expensive than mac and cheese — but she missed the boat when referring to Harvesters as a food pantry.

Technically speaking, Harvesters is not a food pantry but a huge food bank that provides food to more than 500 member agencies throughout our region. It is true that, like small food pantries, Harvesters does collect food, but it also distributes nearly 2 million pounds of food each month, which requires a large warehouse, equipment, professional staff, hundreds of volunteers and complex distribution and inventory systems.

My recommendation would be to support the hungry (oops, the politically correct term is “food insecure”) in our city with monetary donations at www.harvesters.org.

Skip that latte every Friday and donate $20 a month to support feeding kids in Kansas City.

Shere Parker
Lee’s Summit

Keeping Liberty’s flame alive

Many years ago, a fund was established to begin the preservation of Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial. Children, and their families, were encouraged to fill light paperboard replicas of the memorial with half dollars. There was a lot of excitement generated throughout the school communities for this project, which, in fact, generated a substantial amount of money.

After reading the exuberant reviews of the recent “Celebration at the Station” (5/29, Letters) and the desire for the memorial’s flame to truly be eternal, I believe that this could be the solution Kansas City is hoping for.

I encourage Liberty Memorial’s public relations department to think, explore and incorporate this winning process.

I feel certain that our city will embrace and support the idea to “Keep the Flame of Freedom Alive!”

Ron J. Hoffman
Grandview

Thanks, KC, for fighting MS

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society would like to thank the entire Kansas City community for supporting Walk MS on April 12 and 19. This year, more than 1,900 participants raised nearly $250,000. Those contributions will help thousands of local people with multiple sclerosis through programs and services, as well as support research for a cure. And it’s not too late to donate. Just go to www.MSmidamerica.org. Every dollar counts.

Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and can stop people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis.

If you would like more information, contact us at info@nmsskc.org, call 1-800-344-4867 or go to www.MSmidamerica.org.

Nicole Long
Marketing and communications manager, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Mid America Chapter
Kansas City

Helzbergs do good for KC

My high school English teacher would correct me when I said, “I am doing good.” He would say, “Only Boy Scouts and philanthropists do good.”

Kansas City’s Shirley and Barnett Helzberg are doing good. Their list of good deeds is a lengthy, ever-growing one. They have recently purchased a building to house the offices of the Kansas City Symphony (4/15, A-1, “Helzberg plans symphony offices”).

We are fortunate to have such a generous, philanthropic couple as Shirley and Barnett Helzberg in Kansas City.

Steve Katz
Leawood

Save the swim team

Thank you to Steve Penn for sharing the story of the Kansas City Storm swim team with the community (3/11, Local, “Budget Sharks Lurk in Swim Team’s Future Despite Teens’ Successes”).

The story is phenomenal because it highlighted the fact that we have an opportunity to make a difference in these young swimmers’ lives.

Swimming is not only a competitive sport. There is a direct correlation between quality swimmers and saving lives from drowning.

My teenage son is also a swimmer. After reading the story he asked, “Mom why won’t they let us swim?”

It is imperative that the parents of these swimmers, as well as the entire community, embrace this opportunity to make a difference. Imagine the possibilities if we all engage ourselves with an execution plan to save this team.

Mary Porter
Kansas City

Don Bosco’s van

Once again, the generous spirit of Kansas City prevailed. When Don Bosco’s Meals on Wheels van (along with more than $2,000 in equipment and meals meant for homebound seniors) was carjacked on March 4, it was a sad day for our organization. However, the city was quick to respond to such a senseless act of violence with an overwhelming outreach of support.

I’d like to thank the media, individual donors and the local corporate community for their efforts on our behalf. In particular, I commend the Kansas City Transportation Group and Talk Radio 710 AM’s Chris Stigall. Thanks to their generous response, our van and equipment were replaced within two days and we were able to get our program back to serving those in need. That is true face of Kansas City.

Nicholas Scielzo
President, Don Bosco Centers
Kansas City

Tributes to pets

March 9 you printed a heartfelt letter from a family who lost their beloved dog, and the thoughtfulness of their veterinarian, Paul Diehl. Whether it was a misprint in the paper or perhaps the family misunderstood the name of the veterinary clinic, but the name of Dr. Diehl’s clinic is Hecker Animal Clinic.

I, too, have had my pets treated at Hecker Animal Clinic, and have found the compassion of the doctors, technicians and staff members to be beyond measure. In the last year, we lost an elderly cat (18) and two dogs (14 and 12), and each time, our vet, Brock Exline, made a donation to the KSU Pet Trust Fund in each pet’s honor. It still moves me to tears.

To the doctors and staff at Hecker Animal Clinic: You deserve all the fine recognition you get. Thank you for all you do.

Cynthia Schudel
Kansas City

In response to the letter from Jim and Gretchen Leftwich (3/9)http://www.kansascity.com/309/story/523002-p3.html regarding the loss of their beloved dog in January, my heart goes out to them at this difficult time.

I, too, was touched by a donation from my veterinarians, Gary Modrcin and Fred Schroeder, and the staff of College Boulevard Animal Hospital. It was because of their generous donation and the beautiful letter of sympathy from Kansas State University that I learned about K-State’s Whispering Garden.

This is an outdoor tribute to animals that have greatly enriched our lives. It is located on the College of Veterinary Medicine campus.

For more information, call (785) 532-4013.

Thank you to all the wonderful veterinarians and their staffs and to programs like the one at K-State that help us cope with the loss of a tremendous companion animal.

Ginger Cook
Overland Park

Telephone polling

Jason Dixon (Letters, 3/10) says political polls are inaccurate since so many people eschew landline phone service. That’s one reason I dumped my landline a year or so ago and have a cell phone only. I was sick and tired of getting calls from people trying to sell me something, pitch for their charity or find out who I was voting for.

A person’s home phone is for the convenience of family and friends — not strangers. Now that I no longer have a listed telephone number, I get calls only from people I want to hear from. Also, I am well over 30.

Please do not give pollsters any ideas about ferreting out cell phone numbers so they can waste my minutes.

Elaine Hines
Kansas City, Kan.

Rebates to charity

Recently, you published an interesting article with ideas for spending rebate checks on art and entertainment. How about a similar article for persons who may be willing and able to donate their rebate to charity?

Such funds could go a long way to relieve human suffering in the hands of reputable organizations.

For example, Doctors Without Borders says $500 will provide a Basic Health Care Kit for 1158 displaced persons for three months; $2 per person will provide the most effective treatment for persons infected with the deadliest form of malaria.

Incidentally, spending the money at the mall will do nothing to correct the long-term problems of the American economy.

Dean Askeland
Olathe

Gave gift of life

I thought “Kansas City People” editor Ann Spivak’s understated article about a modern-day philanthropic hero, tucked away on the 17 page of the Sunday Star Magazine, was worthy of front-page placement (2/24, “Donor would do it again to fight PKD”).

Leigh Reynolds, national manager of the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation “Walk for PKD,” sees her day job as more than simply raising money to stamp out a genetic disease. She gave one of her kidneys to someone in need whom she had met in the course of her job.

She did not go so far as to “give one’s life for another,” but she gave life nonetheless.

Her reward? A neat scar to remind her of the greatest gift one human being can give to another. Now that’s pure philanthropy!

Jared J. Grantham, MD
Leawood

Thanks from Top Drawer

Thanks to Debra Skodack for her wonderful article recently on the Top Drawer, the upscale resale shop benefiting Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care (2/8, Local, “Shop traces success to volunteers; Top Drawer has raised more than $900,000 for Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care”).

She captured what the place is about and how important volunteers and donors have been in making the shop a successful fundraising endeavor.

By 10:30 a.m. the day the story ran, the Top Drawer already had 16 donations and 30 phone calls from the story running in The Star. And the shop had nearly 50 first-time customers that day, too.

The story introduced the Top Drawer to some people for the first time and brought in donations and shoppers, which help Kansas City Hospice raise funds so we can provide comfort and care to seriously ill people and their families.

Thanks for helping us serve the community.

Linda Heller, manager
Carol Polson, volunteer
Top Drawer
Leawood

Camp for sick kids

Thank you for your coverage of Kyle Petty and his proposed Kansas City-area Victory Junction Gang Camp (2/22, Sports Daily, “Camp coming to a Wyandotte site; Location for second Victory Junction Gang Camp down to five properties in county”).

I travel to the Victory Junction camp in North Carolina to volunteer. I started volunteering last year. I have been to camp five times so far and am scheduled to attend one more spring and one more summer session. As soon as the schedule is out for fall, I will be signing up for additional session.

The camp is life-changing, not only for the children and families, but also for the volunteers. You have a totally different view of your life and how you live it after being at camp as a volunteer.

There are so many children and families in this area who will benefit from this camp.

My wife and I were among the lucky few to attend the first meeting in Kansas City. After that, we made a commitment to do what ever we could to help achieve the goal of building a camp here.

Reading articles about this camp in The Star inspires us. It is refreshing to hear other individuals have the same dream as the Pettys to have a camp here.

We greatly appreciate your coverage. Thanks to motorsports writer Jim Pedley for taking the interest in this dream.

Tom Olsen
Overland Park

Secret Santa inspired

Thanks to seeds sewn by Kansas City’s Secret Santa, last year my bridge club put in $5 apiece each month. By December, we had $500.

We took our five crisp $100 bills and met at a Waffle House for supper. Upon leaving, we tipped the cook and the two waitresses, wished them a Merry Christmas and made a hasty exit.

We then went to a local Laundromat and found two young girls working. We truly felt more blessed than the ones we gave to and were sorry we were out of “ones.” So this year, we are doubling our funds!

How about it, other bridge, supper and bunko groups? Have we sewn some seeds?

Linda Newton
Liberty

Helping benefits us all

Recently a number of letter writers, responding to reports about the subprime mortgage crisis or columns in The Star, emphasized individual responsibility. That is commendable, and the espoused principles (e.g., Gary Pederson on the Jan. 14 Letters page) are absolutely supportable. Unfortunately, too often there is a self-righteous stance behind these comments that turns categorically against so-called government handouts.

What these people seem to forget is that a nation is not just an assembly of individuals, but a collective with a minimum amount of necessary solidarity. If voluntary charity worked, the United States, whose population is generous, would not have the highest percentage of people in poverty among advanced Western nations.

Access to universal health care, day care and free education are actually the in the best interest of all members of a nation, unless they are intent on holding up class barriers. No other Western society has the immense imbalance of wealth that the United States has, and that is why support for those in need has to come from the collective.

As taxpayers we have to choose our representatives wisely, so that our contributions to the common pool of money are used in the interest of the majority of us.

Klaus Karbaumer
Platte City

Inspirational woman

Amanda Dye — what in inspiration! A beautiful 23-year-old who wants to change the world. No, she has changed the world (12/30, Local, “A ‘leap of faith’ goes far: Stunned by the poverty she saw on a volunteer trip, William Jewell student takes action”).
I recently heard a presentation by Amanda. She spoke from her heart with the power of someone who has a mission in life. I was amazed at her spirit, her vision, her energy, her knowledge, her accomplishments. She works two or three jobs, goes to school, runs her orphanage in Zambia and more. I couldn’t wait to contribute to her organization, Energy of Hope.
Thank you for the article about her.
Lila Martin
Stilwell

Stress-free Santa photos

I would like to invite recent letter writer Ann Butenas to Raytown next year for Santa photos.
For the last three years, Rolland Studios Inc. has donated its time and resources to provide professional photographs with Santa. We ask for a $5 donation but have never turned anyone away. All proceeds go to the Raytown Emergency Assistance Program.
Several poses are taken and then posted on the Internet, where you choose your complimentary package.
Ken Blom of Stratford Development generously donates the use of the community room at Hidden Lake Senior Care Center and Retirement Apartments.
We have two Santas: Mike Dutoit and Raytown Police Sgt. Mike McDonough.
Photos are taken by a veteran photographer, Gary Martin, who has the experience of photographing 20,000 schoolchildren per year.
Best of all, the wait has been less than 10 minutes. Last year we raised more than $700 for R.E.A.P.
Steve J. Mullally
President, Rolland Studios Inc.
Raytown

Gift of blankets

I recently visited the Spofford Home, where I saw a need that I could help fill as a nonworking college student. When a new child comes to Spofford, the first thing he or she does is go to the blanket closet and pick out a blanket to keep.

The next day, I made a trip to Wal-Mart at 159th and Metcalf, where I chose enough fabric to make five blankets to donate. As I was getting the fabric cut, two men asked what I was doing with all that fabric. I gladly explained and told of the good work being done at Spofford.

As I was walking away, one of the men handed me some cash. When I got to the register, I was surprised to see it was $40. Not only that, when I was being rung up, the men found me again and gave me another $20. This paid for nearly the entire purchase.

I wanted to thank these men for their generosity. Because of your help, I am able to go back to Wal-Mart and get five more blankets. I wonder who will choose “our” blankets.

I also want to thank Patricia, the lady who had to cut and measure all that material. I’ll be back in soon.

Samantha Steinman

Overland Park

Down on her luck

Wouldn’t it be nice if Jerry Friedl and Todd Miller (12/21, Voices) directed their energies into helping women and children in shelters instead of complaining about the woman smoking and receiving money from the Secret Santa. People get down on their luck sometimes and need a helping hand, smokers and nonsmokers alike. Aren’t you guys missing the big picture here?

Jennifer St. Vincent
Weatherby Lake

Rugby team project

When you hear of a rugby team, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Forget that! This is not your father’s rugby team or any ordinary rugby team. It is the Kansas City Blues Rugby Team working with the Don Bosco Center and the “Holiday Friends Program.”

Several years ago, Tim Kluempers, a member of the Blues, started collecting money from players to buy gifts for needy families. Last year, the Blues donated $1,700 and provided gifts for 30 people in five families.

Tim Kluempers and his family have been the driving force behind this program. He collects donations from the Blues, than he organizes a trip to Kohl’s on Shawnee Mission Parkway to buy the presents.

After the team buys the presents, they head to Tim’s home to wrap the presents. It is like a big assembly line with people separating the items, and others wrapping while others make sure the right names are on the packages.

Players are not the only people involved with this program. Friends, family members and kids from local schools have been involved.

This year the program has collected over $3,000 and will buy presents for four families. If anyone is interested in learning more about this program or the Kansas City Blues you can go to www.kcblues.org.

Jim Schneweis, Kansas City Blues Rugby Club
Kansas City, Kan.

City Union Mission nativity

City Union Mission is grateful for the front-page picture in the Friday (12/14) Local section of the live nativity portrayed by homeless clients. I just wanted to clarify that these homeless individuals truly wanted to be doing this — they were not “used” by City Union Mission, as the caption stated.

The sole desire of these men was to encourage those who passed by to remember the true meaning of the Christmas season.

Dan Doty
Executive director, City Union Mission
Kansas City

Too many Virginias

Francis Pharcellus Church was wrong.

As editor of The New York Sun in 1897, Mr. Church responded to an 8-year-old girl’s letter with words that have become part of American lore: “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” It seems that in today’s world, there are too many Virginias.

A significant portion of society seems to share in Virginia’s false belief, looking to others to provide them with the necessities, as well as luxuries, of life.

Today’s Santa takes on many forms, such as government, charitable organizations and ex-husbands. The effect on modern society may have been altered both dramatically and beneficially had Mr. Church been more accountable in his response on that fateful day by informing Virginia that only hard work, responsibility, diligence and self-respect would have provided her with life’s necessities.

No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus.

But there is a Scrooge.

Robert L. Donaldson
Prairie Village

Season for bell ringers

There are no Salvation Army bell ringers at Target stores. The company has banned them from their property. That is their right. I have the right to spend my money at another store.

Of all the organizations that try to do good in this world, I put more of my money with the Salvation Army than others. That is my right.

I did a four-hour shift ringing bells at a Wal-Mart. Many people were very generous, and all very friendly.

Richard Blaisdell
Overland Park

What a beautiful, blessed Christmas season! I must have had more than a hundred people wish me a Merry Christmas already. Either I’m the most popular person in Kansas City or it had something to do with the fact that I was standing next to a red kettle ringing a bell and wishing them one first.

Either way, it’s not too late to give yourself a gift that will truly warm your heart: a look at life from the other side of the bell. Shifts are still available by calling (816) 968-0372 or logging on to www.ringkc.com.

Whether you do or not, and whether you give or not: Merry Christmas!

Jane DeGisi
Overland Park

Spirit of season

My husband and I were blessed to be volunteers at the Platte County Christmas Store, which provides new gifts, free of charge, for more than 1,200 less-fortunate children in the Northland. What a wonderful experience to help a parent shop for children: a new bike, a Bratz doll or maybe a CD player.

On Friday afternoon after the store closed, my husband and I headed for Gladstone Bowl for one of our senior citizen leagues. For 50 cents, a bowler could buy a chance to win the “pot” by having the score that is drawn out after the second game. If no one bowls that score, the “pot” carries over to the next senior league.

Friday, the pot had risen to $199.50! The score was drawn, and Bob Long had bowled the winning 178. With a giving heart, he immediately donated the money to the needy family the bowling alley had adopted for Christmas.

May we all keep the Christmas spirit alive this season by following Bob’s example. Surely, there is something, regardless of size, that we all can do for someone less fortunate.

May God bless you all. He continually blesses me!

Sharon Otto
Kansas City

Salvation Army’s work

Most of us in a working environment spend eight hours a day, five days a week and are free on holidays and vacation days each year. Imagine for a moment being on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no holidays or vacation days. That is the story of the Salvation Army effort to relieve suffering and tragedies. Tornadoes, floods, fires and terrorist attacks occur anywhere, without warning, and require immediate help.

Most of these are national emergencies, yet there are those in our community who, perhaps for no reason of their own, are hungry and are in need of personal assistance. The Salvation Army has been on duty for over 100 years and asks you and me to share this Christmas season and every Christmas season.

The Salvation Army, with its bell ringers and red kettles, reminds us it is time to help those less fortunate. By feeding the red kettle as you Christmas shop this year, you can make a real difference in the life of another human being. You will be glad you did.

B.T. Munday
Prairie Village

Bell ringers everywhere

What a silly remark, and careless, made by a letter writer: “Sometimes I find it funny how usually Wal-Mart is the only store I see with Salvation Army bell ringers outside” (12/8). In my limited shopping this season, I have already been welcomed by ringers at various locations, such as Kmart, Price Chopper, Ranch Mart Hardware and Hy-Vee. Wal-Mart certainly does not have a lock on promoting such a worthwhile charity as the Salvation Army.

Sharon Potts
Overland Park

Salvation Army bell ringers

Recently, I found myself ringing bells for the Salvation Army at a local Wal-Mart. I thought I was going to have a horrible time and freeze to death. Then I got to thinking about all the good things that the Salvation Army does. All the money donated to those red buckets is used to help the poor by meeting their physical and spiritual needs.

Sometimes I find it funny how usually Wal-Mart is the only store I see with Salvation Army bell ringers outside. Some retailers do not allow any ringers outside of their stores. So next time you go by someone braving the cold for the Salvation Army, dig through your pockets for some extra spare change and put it in that bucket. Everything helps.

Amy Hull
Liberty

Hungry during the holiday

Harvesters and other food banks say they are not going to be able to meet the needs of the hungry. Well, I’ve got news for them. As long as they let people who are employed and making good money apply for and get free food, they will have this problem. The same goes for agencies that give free baskets of food and other goodies at Thanksgiving and Christmas time.

I was under the impression that people who are unemployed, elderly, disabled or extremely poor were the people these programs were set up for. I am a 67-year-old woman living on a very fixed income. I do not apply for food stamps or free food yet, but I saw co-workers -- when I was working --lie to get food stamps, free holiday baskets, etc.

Agencies need to do a better job of screening applicants. Then maybe their shelves will stay fuller.

Karen Stumbaugh
Kansas City

Another Secret Santa

We had a pinochle club that met every couple of weeks. We would usually meet somewhere at a local restaurant to have a brunch before our game. One day a few years ago, around Christmas, we went to the Village Inn and ate. When the eight of us got up to pay, they told us not to worry because a gentleman had all ready taken care of all of it. He was almost getting ready to leave and we all got in line and gave him a big hug and a thank you. He told us he had a mother once and it gave him pleasure to do that for us. Every Christmastime we always spoke about that wonderful, “Secret Santa.”

Sue Reich
Kansas City, Kan.

Think of those in need

The controversy around the shape and size of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree reminds me of Charlie Brown’s tree. Maybe it is good we have a tree that does not look as good as the others, has a few thin spots here and there, and is not straight and full.

It reminds us that not everyone enjoys the same Christmas as most of us have, a Christmas full of gifts, food, family, friends, and faith. The Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund provides help for those who are not as lucky as many of us.

Maybe we need that reminder so we can be encouraged to give to this fund and help a less-fortunate family this Christmas season.

Joseph P. Bonello
Kansas City

Great mission in Pakistan

After observing children striving to learn under adverse conditions in a remote village in Pakistan, Greg Mortenson, in his book Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time, said, “I felt like my heart was being torn out. I knew I had to do something. There was fierceness in their desire to learn despite how mightily everything was stacked against them.”

In 1993, this mountain climber recuperated in Korphe after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the villagers’ kindnesses, he promised to return and build a school. Since then, 58 schools have been built — not just one! This year they are providing education to more than 24,000 children, including 14,000 girls.

Could Mortenson be a future candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize? Our women’s reading group thinks so and fervently recommends this book and its mission.

For more information, contact Mortenson’s nonprofit organization, Central Asian Institute (www.ikat.org).

Mildred St. Clair and Dixie Brown
Kansas City

Christmas in October

The first two Saturdays in October for 24 years have been set aside by Christmas in October to perform extensive rehabilitation work on the homes of the elderly, disabled and financially disadvantaged in the Kansas City area.

On Oct. 6, more than 250 union plumbers, pipefitters, glazers and electricians volunteered and installed 22 hot water heaters, 17 furnaces and 138 windows and repaired 57 furnaces. They also performed extensive plumbing and electrical work at 108 houses.

On Oct. 13, the rain and lightning were so severe much of the outside work had to be postponed. In spite of this, more than 5,000 volunteers from more than 100 businesses, churches and schools did extensive work on 312 houses.

Each Saturday since Oct. 13, hundreds of volunteers continued to work on these houses so that since then, these volunteers have built 13 wheelchair ramps, re-roofed 24 homes, installed more than 2,100 feet of guttering, and painted 197 homes.

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank the thousands of volunteers who have made Christmas in October a testament to the thousands of great, caring people in the Greater Kansas City area.

John McMeel and Dick Miller, co-founders
Tom Redmond, executive director
Christmas in October
Kansas City

Worthy dictionary program

The letter from Christopher Hope, executive director of the Dictionary Project, describes one of those invaluable community projects that receive very little recognition - the distribution of dictionaries to third-grade students in the Kansas City area (10/31, Letters).

I can attest to the value of this service to our children. The morning I read that letter, I pulled my old "Little Oxford Dictionary" from the shelf to refresh my memory on the difference between "bimonthly" and "semimonthly." This dictionary has been in my possession for 73 years, since it was given to me in 1934 as the reward for being the second-best eighth-grade student in the Osage County, Kan., scholarship contest.

Mr. Hope, keep up the good work!

Don Dubois
Lenexa

Dictionary Project

This month, we celebrated the 249th anniversary of the birth of Noah Webster. Born on Oct. 16, 1758, Noah Webster felt that the citizens of this new country could not thrive without a dictionary that reflected the words and ideas of its citizens. And now, in 2007, we still believe that this is true.

This month, volunteers from all over the metropolitan area have been presenting personal dictionaries to more than 25,000 third-graders in our community.

Volunteers from the Chiefs Red Coaters, from Sprint, from the area’s Optimist, Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, as well as dozens of individuals and companies, have been helping kids explore the wonderful world of words.

Thanks to their support, Dictionary Project is able to ensure that every third-grader in the 12-county metropolitan area is offered a dictionary. Now in its sixth year, Dictionary Project Kansas City and its partners and supporters have been able to provide more than 100,000 dictionaries to our area kids, free of charge.

While we do not yet have volunteers to present in all of our community’s schools, we are well on our way to ensuring that every one of our kids can say, “I can look it up myself!”

Christopher Hope
Executive director, Dictionary Project Kansas City

Thank you

I would like to publicly thank the employees at the Bass Pro Shop in Olathe for their generous donations to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

My daughter, who is a Type I diabetic, stayed after her shift to ask for contributions. Around 25 employees at Bass Pro donated. It was the most heartwarming donation received by our family. Her co-workers showed great empathy by supporting her efforts.

A gift of hope and encouragement is a powerful gift.

Pam Ippel
Overland Park

Nonprofit events, fundraising

The Star’s Oct. 11 article concerning the American Jazz Museum caught the Council on Philanthropy’s attention (Local, “Benefit for jazz museum loses money”). The council, located in Kansas City, provides training, networking and information to help nonprofit organizations better serve clients.

We appreciate The Star’s concern about responsible use of donor dollars. Still, nonprofits, like for-profit businesses, occasionally lose money on projects, and the museum is hardly the first or last nonprofit to lose money on a special event. Raising money is usually just one of several important reasons for events.

The council encourages training that fosters understanding of board and staff responsibilities and will offer more than 40 programs in 2008 on nonprofit governance, administration, fundraising, marketing, volunteer management, professional development and grant-making (see www.kcphilnet.org).

These programs, such as “Return on Investment of Special Events” on May 14, can help organizations ensure their team has the skills and knowledge to accomplish their common goal of improving life in our community.

Michelle Davis
Executive director, Council on Philanthropy
Kansas City

Fund-raiser didn’t

I was very sorry to learn the American Jazz Museum expects to lose at least $30,000 from its September event (10/11, Local, “Benefit for jazz museum loses money”). More troubling still is the comment from the organization’s board chair that he feels the board is not responsible for fundraising.

I can find only one board listed in the museum’s public documents — the governing board — and a primary role of the governing board of any 501(c)(3) organization is to raise funds in support of that its programs.

This is not the first major area nonprofit entity whose board members seem to view their roles as somehow limited to advising or lending their names. Such a view virtually guarantees trouble for the organization.

Pat Bates
Parkville

Diabetes walk Saturday

Diabetes is reaching near-epidemic proportions, affecting nearly 21 million Americans, including more than 325,000 in the Kansas City area.

That’s why thousands of people will gather at sites all over the United States for Step Out to Fight Diabetes, the premier fund-raising walk of the American Diabetes Association. All funds raised are used in support of the association’s mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by it.

I will be joining Kansas City’s fight against diabetes Saturday at Corporate Woods in Overland Park, Kansas.

For more information, to sign up as a walker, sponsor or volunteer, or to donate, call the American Diabetes Association of Greater Kansas City at (913) 383-8210 or visit diabetes.org/stepout today.

This is a cause that calls upon both sides of the aisle, both sides of the state line and the entire world population. I hope to see you on Saturday.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore
3rd Congressional District, Kansas
Lenexa

Victory Junction proposal

Another Victory Junction in the Kansas City area would be a great contribution by the Petty family (9/30, A-1, “Pettys consider KC for a special camp; NASCAR family wants to build a second facility that will help children with serious illnesses”).

Old-timers like me may remember when a highway intersection west of Kansas City, Kan., in the 1930s and ’40s was named Victory Junction. What a great location for the Petty project.

I think the intersection was the location of U.S. 73 turning north toward Leavenworth from U.S. 24/40, which continued west toward Lawrence. As I recall, the intersection was remembered for its large windmill on a filling station.

Paul Kanne