LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Boyd’s thoughts

I worked at a job one time where they asked us to contribute money from our weekly check to the United Way. Many of us did because, in theory, it was the right thing to do.

When times got bad for me, I went to the United Way o◊ce to ask for help, but I was told that they did not help individuals. I was told that I would have to go to one of the organizations that they sent their (yours and my) money to. That was one of my fi rst lessons concerning charities.

Now days I do not give to charities, basically because they are not trustworthy.

Most if not all charities are exempt from any kind of outside scrutiny. The government is generally not allowed to investigate these groups to see if the money is really going where we were told that it was going to.

There’s a cliche which is: “To never trust the three Ps.” What are the three Ps, you say? They are: Preachers, Politicians or Police.

There’s a man and his wife who lived in our fi ne town who fell on bad times. They got evicted from their residence. Then they got a tent and they stayed on one local Preacher’s property, but when that did not work out, they were told to move on. When they went back to collect his tools and other property, the Preacher told them that they had given it all to charity. That’s one for the Preachers.

They went down by the river to live in their tent and low and behold the same storm that wiped out the city of Moore, Okla., came in and washed away everything else that they owned.

They eventually found a small RV to buy but theMayor (Politician) of our little town wouldn’t allow them to park their camper at the city park where the city already has RV electric panels installed. I know because I am the one who asked the Mayor if they could stay temporarily.

That’s one for the Politicians.

There were several churches that were collecting for the victims of the Moore Relief, but they were not able to help these people in their own town.

That’s another one for the Preachers.

One large church did allow them to park their RV on their property for a whole week (without water or electricity) while the righteous church members went to help the foreigners in Hattie (sic). They were told to leave after a week.

That’s another one for the Preachers.

Then they found an abandoned property to park their RV on but they were told by our fi ne Police force that they were trespassing and they had to go or to to jail. That’s one for the Police.

Shame, shame, shame on the City of Pea Ridge. I hope that none of you fi ne citizens ever falls on bad times in this fi ne city.

BOYD B. MCNIEL Pea Ridge, Ark.