Letters to the Editor (Sept. 24)

Contributions would help a lot of local people

Editor:

For every Thanksgiving Day, the Mid Rio Grande chapter of RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) serves as a clearinghouse to provide food baskets for families in need in the area of the Belen school district.

This year, owing to the pandemic and because more people than usual are out of work, there is a greater need than normal. RSVP is soliciting funds from the public to be able to provide these food baskets to as many as possible.

Contributions in the form of unexpired non-perishable food items or financial contributions are welcome. Food items can be left at the RSVP office, 719 S. Main St., Belen, 87002 (the Belen Business Center, next to the senior center) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

For financial contributions please make checks payable to Mid Rio Grande RSVP; checks can be dropped off at the address above or mailed.

RSVP will begin accepting applications for food baskets on Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 1-4 p.m., Wednesdays through Fridays only. Proof of residency in the area of the Belen school district and proof of income are required from all applicants.

RSVP, with more than 250 volunteers in the county, works with various nonprofit organizations (such as the Belen Area Food Pantry) to assist those organizations in serving the community.

For more information about RSVP or the Thanksgiving Day food basket drive, please contact RSVP director Bertha Flores at 966-2567, or her assistant, Cindy Lu Cowan, at 966-2566.

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Frank Ortega, Wayne Gallegos, Nancy Gonzales, Linda Duree, Pearl Lucero and Jim Rickey

RSVP Advisory Council

Voting is the answer

Editor:

After watching the Republican National Convention (RNC), I now know how the German people must have felt like before realizing they were duped by Hitler.

The theme was vile and despicable discourse weaved between lines of some niceties about the speakers. While the president talked about how the streets would be overrun with violence in a Biden presidency, they were being overrun in his.

The president did not want to confront the cause of the violence though; the frustration of Black people being hurt or killed by police in unequal numbers. Address this issue and the violence will wither but its Black frustration spilling over.

Why are we surprised? We have a president who breaks the law in front of the country with his acceptance speech at the White House, a president that lies and who can only deride those with differing opinions.

He didn’t build an economy but took over one that was expanding from our worst recession, caused by a Republican president. And now he’s wrecked this one as well because he couldn’t find it within himself to deal with a pandemic.

Vote … because voting is the No. 1 cause to unwanted presidencies.

Robert Wiseman

Rio Communities

Suicide prevention needs to be a top priority

Editor:

September is Suicide Prevention Month and it’s important that we are there for each other and take steps to prevent suicide.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s theme for the month is to #KeepGoing, by taking simple actions to safeguard our mental health and save lives. From learning the warning signs for suicide and what to do if you are worried someone is struggling, to bringing education programs to your community, we can all learn new ways to help each other save lives.

One action I’m taking is to urge my public officials to prioritize suicide prevention and mental health. When someone is in acute crisis, it’s hard for them to think clearly, and even reaching out for help can be a struggle.

For this reason, it is vital that Congress pass the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (H.R.4194/S.2661) to make a three-digit number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline a reality. This legislation will provide the funding and resources needed by crisis centers across the country that support those struggling with their mental health and thoughts of suicide.

In this time of uncertainty, we all need to find new ways to connect and support each other.

Together, we #KeepGoing.

Anna Madrid

Albuquerque

Honor to our military and our veterans

Editor:

I was raised in a military family; my father being an officer in the Air Force. He was a most humble, honorable man, driven by a sense of duty to defend our nation against the enemy during WW11, the Cold War and Vietnam.

He worked tirelessly, was gone most of the time, and conducted himself impeccably toward our county and our family. He gave up his dream of starting a ranch in Wyoming, when he received his draft notice on the very day he graduated college, having obtained a degree in Animal Husbandry from Cal Poly College in California.

We were proud of him, for the sacrifices he made, to protect and defend our nation and thereby protecting and defending our family. When I was young, it was fun to watch the military parades and feel so much pride in being part of all of this.

As I got older though, the seriousness of it all dawned on me. To protect and defend our nation is so unselfish, so self-sacrificing, so loving and deep, that each of our military members, their families, who serve, too, in ways not always realized, and our veterans, deserve all the honor and respect, we as a nation, can give them.

No one has the right to disparage them.

Mary Elizabeth Bell

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