Food donations a welcome bounty
To Rowan Helping Ministries (RHM) supporters:
Thank you so much for your generous response to the collection of canned goods connected with the admission to the Rowan County Fair. Your participation and joy in doing so was amazing.
You gave 1,350 pounds of food, which completely filled the bed of a pickup! Rowan Helping Ministries distributes an average of 1,250 pounds of food daily. Through your supportive action, 50 households will not go hungry. As generous as you were, that tremendous amount of food will last one day.
God bless each one of you who shared your bounty with those in crisis. Your thoughtful efforts were an extraordinary way to connect with others in our community.
ó Gail Kimball
RHM Board member
Don’t betray vets
I’m writing this letter in response to the change at the VA Hospital in Salisbury. The only thing that needs changing is the director, Carolyn Adams, and whoever else helped make the decision to close the emergency room and inpatient care.
I have several questions:
Why is Rowan Regional Hospital the only outside facility mentioned in the paper? Why wasn’t Northeast Medical Center mentioned?
They had longterm care here before and it didn’t work, so why do you think it is going to work now?
The director assured the employees that no one will lose their job; if you’re closing departments, jobs will be lost. What are the doctors, nurses, food-service, housekeeping and maintenance staffs going to be doing?
Why would you open three new surgery suites if you knew you would not be using them? Why didn’t you spend that money on something else?
The VA Hospital in Salisbury belongs to every veteran who served this country. You work for the veteran, and that means improving health care for every one of us. Shutting down any part of the hospital is not fair to us.
When sending a veteran to Rowan Regional Medical Center, is this going to be more costly for the federal government? Also, the cost of sending veterans to Asheville and Durham will be on the rise. There are some veterans who don’t have transportation to these places. Are you going to make transportation available for them?
The service at the VA Hospital of Salisbury has been outstanding, and it is something no veteran wants to lose.
All veterans need to take a firm stand and get in contact with their congressmen and senators to stop this foolish move.
ó Zane E. Robertson
Salisbury
Let’s not forget
There has been a lot of attention focused on Faithful Friends Animal Sanctuary recently. I am thankful we are getting a no-kill shelter. We need to remember there is another group in Rowan County that deserves our praise, and that is the Rowan County Humane Society. It has saved animals in this county for the last 25-30 years. It is also run on donations and volunteers. So let’s remember the Humane Society. Hopefully, the two groups can work together. Thank you, Rowan County Humane Society, for all the hard work and for all the animals you have saved.
ó Karen Blaney
Salisbury
Leadership needed
Thanks to Josh Steedley for pointing out “facts” surrounding the current financial crisis overtaking our country (“Socialistic left made this mess.” Sept. 29 letter to the editor). I don’t know Mr. Steedley, but I appreciate his diligent research and presentation of those facts. It’s easy to blame the current administration, which is not entirely without fault, but the reality is that many on the left benefited directly (Frank Raines, Jim Johnson) or indirectly (Chris Dodd, Barack Obama) from the poor lending practices forced by the Community Reinvestment Act and therefore blocked efforts to reform the system.
At this point, blame should be secondary to the problems we face, but you would not know that by listening to Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid. As “leaders” of the House and Senate, and I use the word leader very loosely, they are an embarrassment to our government and our country. The first response from Senator Reid last week when the Fannie/Freddie unraveling began was we must fix this “Republican” problem. And Pelosi’s speech on the House floor politicized the debate, alienated Republican members, and ultimately may have contributed to the initial defeat of the bill. Politics over leadership, party over country.
But with the presidential election upon us, blaming everything on the Bush Administration and trying to tie John McCain to Bush is the only play in the Democratic playbook. You will be hard pressed to hear Obama supporters tell you why they support Barack Obama without referring to George Bush. John McCain is not George Bush. He is his own man, with experience and proven leadership, who understands that the “changes” in Washington needed are to cut spending, not raise taxes, and hold everyone accountable for their actions. Country first. Vote McCain-Palin in 2008.
ó Stan Jordan
Salisbury
Answered prayers
As I came upon the three-vehicle collision on West Innes Street last Thursday, I bowed my head and asked my lord and savior Jesus Christ to please protect whomever was in the collision, that they would not be seriously injured. I also asked him to guide the emergency workers, and to be with them as they responded to each need. Not knowing if you knew my Jesus or not, I lifted up an intercessionary pray for you on Thursday.
As I was detoured onto I-85, I also thanked him for protecting me from harm. If I had been five minutes earlier, that could have been me. Coincidence? Lucky? I don’t think so. Blessed! God tells us in his many promises to us in his word, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24). I believe my heavenly father heard my prayer for you on Thursday, and I am so thankful he answered in such a loving way.
ó Tiena Miller
Salisbury
GOP by choice
When I look into the precious face of our adopted granddaughter who came into our lives last Christmas, I know why I’m a Republican “by choice.”
She could have been another aborted statistic, and we would never have seen her beautiful smile or felt her little hands touch our faces. We would never have seen her take the first step. She lights up our lives.
If the platform of the Republican Party did not take a stand for pro-life, I would not be a member. This is the most important attribute of leadership that I look for in a candidate. For I truly believe that God will be on the side of the party that values the sanctity of human life.
ó Joyce Kent
Salisbury
Gas mystery
While visiting my son last weekend at Topsail Island, I decided to do some price comparison on gas. In Archdale, I paid $3.75 per gallon, and no one there knew anything about a shortage. We stopped in Raleigh and paid $3.69 per gallon, and still no one knew anything about a shortage.
On our return trip, gas at Topsail Island was $3.75. This is a tourist attraction and still cheaper than here. On the way back, we stopped in Smithfield and paid $3.57, still nothing about a gas shortage. A little farther up the road in Burlington, I saw another gas sign for only $3.49. As soon as I hit Rowan County, gas skyrocketed: $3.99 and $4.19 and a supposed shortage. What’s going on here? Maybe we should go out of Rowan to buy our gas or boycott these high-priced stations.
ó Anne Kimball
Salisbury