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Page 19THE HERALD Wohaday April 1191 Editorial Shoot the messenger The Shoot the Messenger syndrome appears to be alive and well in Halton Hills This is unfortunate because it could also lead to other social maladies such as the curtailing of freedom of thought freedom of speech and freedom of opinion Ills that reportedly have been cured in a supposed free society We are referring here to the brouhaha that has erupted in the enclaves of Halton Hills over a letter published last Wednesday in the Heralds Peoples Forum which referred to certain perceived abusesat the Acton Food Bank commonly known as The Herald had contacted the particular letterwriter prior to publication of the letter to verify identification and discuss the letterwriters concerns and subsequent ly the letter was published All well and good one would assume Since the publication of the letter however this Managing Editor and a reporter have received numerous telephone calls criticizing the newspaper simply because we published the letter As one caller noted Did you have to print something bad about something that is doing good for people In a word yes The Heralds Peoples Forum is just as it proclaims A forum for the people of the community to air beefs toss brickbats and even the occasional bouquet The Peoples Forum letters are edited where needed and yes even censored when language is used to stress a particular point For the most part however letters in the Peoples Forum reflect the views of the people of Halton Hills As far as this Managing Editor is concerned these sometimes divergent views also reflect a caring con cerned and vibrant community willing to air opinions on sometimes controversial subjects because it is the com munity as a whole that matters rather than individual This is the crux of the matter behind the Acton Food Bank issue The letterwriter whether the perceptions were cor rect or incorrect felt concerned enough about the com munity to go public with a perceived wrong As letters in this edition of the Peoples Forum appear to indicate perhaps the letterwriter was wrong in these perceptions That doesnt alter the fact that the letter- writer in our society had every right to go public with perceived concerns A number of telephone calls the Herald received were from people who felt they had been identified in the let ter Relax Chill out If such had been the case on the par ticular day the letterwriter made reference to the Food Bank facility would have to have overcrowded to say the least in terms of the number of calls the Herald received What was most objectionable about the telephone calls however was the fact that the majority of the callers refused to identify themselves And comments such as I would write a letter but I know it wouldnt be printed ESP or just no guts Or the most laughable You dont know me but we didnt like what your paper printed about Acton Yep shoot the messenger alright Only print the good stuff and ignore everything else Dont rock the boat Well to mix metaphors these people are barking up the wrong boat The Herald will continue to serve the community of Halton Hills in a number of ways and will not shy away from controversial subjects Writer editor wrong Dear Editor I cannot believe that you would print this kind of letter when you know as does everyone that we are In a recession This woman obviously must have forgotten this If she was so upset why did she not ask Joan Waldie what was go ing on DM this woman not con sider that maybe the first couple was taking those groceries to deliver them to people who could not get out to pick the groceries up themselves For the second couple she saw inside the food bank just because the unknown woman is in need of a food bank does not mean that she cannot dress nicely Cant this unknown women keep some of her dignity There are too many people who are in need and because of this letter from a woman who did not check into the matter and an editor who did not care about what he was doing when he printed this letter some may stop giving what is obviously desperately needed I should say that I do not use the food bank I do give and I leave the decisions and screening of the people to the staff of the food bank I have faith in what they do Name and address withheld by request The Halton Hills HERALD Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1 A Division of Canadian Newspaper Company Limited Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario L7G 3Z6 K ROBERT Publisher and General Manager 8772201 COLIN ROB HI Managing Editor Spoil Editor Stall Ban Liu CLASSIFIED Joan CIRCULATION Merle ACCOUNTING Jennie Accounlenl Single Copy In Hilton three Canada Foreign I I three and Provincial Sale here applicable are Tha Harald copyright en all original nam and malarial by Ha employee and pubHned In National of It W Toronlo Ontario MSH Ml Cathcarl Montreal The agree the pubtlahar not IUM lor damage out In beyond amount paid tor die actuary d by Ihat portion of occupied b negligence of there ahall be no llablllt advefllieoiant beyond IT PLACE A FLAVOUR How the food bank works Things you may have wanted to know about Actons Food Bank but didnt know whom to ask In order to correct possible misunderstandings about the Ac ton Food Bank known as Acton I offering the follow ing information Hours of operation Tuesdays to 2 pm and Thursdays 130 to 400 Food is provided to needy clients once in two weeks but not only food Clothing shoes blankets childrens toys are also available for those who need them The Coordinator Mrs Joan Waldie bless her heart works long hours without pay to ad minister the service and to ac quire the foodstuffs etc She is a remarkable and dedicated caring lady All people wishing to receive help from Acton are interviewed and screened to en sure that they fit the financial criteria set forth by the Board of Directors Further wouldbe clients are checked against the Georgetown Love in Christ Food Bank and the Oakville Food Bank to ensure that there is no duplica tion and abuse When persons are registered with they are not allowed to walk through the store and take whatever they want Volunteer assistants to the Coor dinator fill orders according to a fixed schedule allowed to specific family sizes For instance a family of four is given pounds of food on average sufficient to ease the anxieties of feeding a family for about 3 or days For is a supplement to family diet not a substitute for grocery shopping Bread and potatoes- we have in plenty an these often make up the bulk of the order A typical order for a family of four might contain 3 cans of soup 1 pkg of brown sugar oatmeal spaghetti spaghetti sauce cans of pork and beans kidney beans lbs of potatoes bread a small bag of flour rice powdered milk One can see that the pur pose of the food bank is to assist a family in feeding the children mainly and is not a substitute for regular buying Should a visitor to the area see someone pushing a shopping cart filled with bags he should understand that a volunteer is pushing the cart and that the cart may contain the groceries for two or three families Clients are not allowed to use the carts Sometimes where no other transportation is available or the client is sick or pregnant the volunteers make home deliveries If a receiving person looks well dressed at that per sons circumstances may be such that having lost the normal fami ly income those are the clothes heshe must wear One need not be poorly dressed to be in need these recessionary days The people served by a food bank are often people who have lost their jobs live on severely restricted incomes and cannot afford the basics they need for minima daily living so they may be compelled to make their way to a food bank Often they are embarrassed but their children must be fed Too often we who are more for tunate are too ready to think the worst of other people and too quick to suspect wrongdoing It is easier to be critical than to trouble ourselves to learn the real circumstances of others lives Many who use the wish to help in some way to show their appreciation and they do One woman a client of Food- share takes used clothes makes them over for herself for her children and for others who visit Foodshare Acton needs people who will help with donations of food donations of cash to pur chase food or who will volunteer their time to help the foodbank work will end when there is no more need But as long as there is a need you can help Why not phone at and tell us how you would like to help a far better thing to do than levelling undeserved criticism Gerald for Councillor Ward Acton More letters on page 11 Write us a letter The Herald wants to hear From you If you have an opi nion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the office Our address is Street Georgetown Ontario All letters must be signed please Include your ad dress and telephone number for verification The Herald reserves the right to edit letters due to space limitations