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Thanks to those who helped with Christmas outreach We would like to thank all those who contributed and volunteered to make Our Daily Bread Ministries’ Dec. 24 community Christmas outreach and the emergency shelter such a success and help to the needy of our county. Despite a rainy and dreary Christmas Eve, over 250 hot Christmas dinners including turkey, ham and all the trimmings were served and the heartbeat of Jesus Ministries provided music and the Christmas story for children. To conclude the evening, approximately 500 presents were distributed to children and adults including sleeping bags, tarps and tents. We thank the Lord for the many individuals, churches and businesses (too many to list) who have opened their hearts to help their neighbors. In response to the Dec. 26 letter (“Homeless on drugs, getting checks hard to feel sorry for”), the writer is entitled to her opinion, though I wish to clarify a few issues. The writer said that she felt the worst about “the fact that the children did not have that Christmas party.” On the evening of Dec. 24, many families with children were served by many local volunteers with a hot meal, heard the Christmas story and presents were given to each child. Furthermore, Our Daily Bread Ministries is a Christ-centered ministry offering freedom from drugs, alcohol and other addictions through programs such as our Freedom Now classes, which have an 85 percent success rate. We do not, however, teach or provide NA or AA meetings as part of our ministry, though we do allow NA to use a room in our building to meet.
I enjoy presenting the work of Our Daily Bread Ministries to anyone interested in helping our community. We appreciate your continued partnership. If anyone would like to know more about Our Daily Bread Ministries, I invite you to come by the fairgrounds or call me at 954-9477. I don’t understand what the opposition is against this ministry. They are trying to build a shelter. Our churches and civic leaders should be supporting Our Daily Bread Ministries.
The homeless aren’t helpless, but lack the love and trust of our community. After all, weren’t Mary and Joseph homeless when they gave us Baby Jesus? Crescent City will have the brightest beacon on the North Coast. How can anyone be serious about preventing all deaths when school buses have no seat belts or restraints? Leave the jetty open with well maintained warning signs. Do not blame anyone else but the risk-takers.
Anyone driving a car is at far greater risk than jetty walkers. Danger and accidents are inevitable, no matter where, when or to anyone. Good common sense and pure luck protects most of us. Sand Mine Road was raised quite awhile ago to stop the flooding, but this didn’t stop the flooding, either. There is a culvert just north of Sand Mine Road that is two-third’s plugged with mud and crud. I pointed this out to two CalTrans officials two or three years ago. Their remedy was to remove the driftwood on the ocean side of the culvert, but didn’t even attempt to clean out said culvert. For my trouble I was told that they wanted to put in a fish-friendly culvert and they walked away (twice). This culvert drains the water falling on the whole mountain south of Elk Valley Road to Crescent Hill. It goes through this one mostly plugged up culvert.
This is why we get water over the road almost every year. Mr. Elias is advocating an “open primary” where any registered voter could have a vote in the selection of any political party’s candidate. Well, that just does not make logical sense. How can a political party remain a separate party without an exclusive right to select its candidate? It seems to me that crossover voting is a short step from a single-party system. And I don’t believe we really want, or should have, anything resembling a single-party system. Mr. Elias is right about one thing. It would probably be more politically efficient. The single-party systems of Hitler and Stalin were very politically efficient.
Clif Shepard |