Editorial

	Related Thanksgiving article: • Bishop's column -- Thanks be to God: A time of year to be grateful (en Español)

Many of us are busy shopping, cooking, and cleaning this week in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday. And we know Christmas is not too far away, too.

Most readers of the Catholic Herald do not have to worry about going hungry or being homeless during the holidays. But there are people in our communities who do. We may not even be aware of them.

More are hungry. Second Harvest Foodbank of Madison released a study in 2006 showing that the food bank is serving 34 percent more people than it did five years ago. An estimated 75,000 different individuals received assistance in 2005. That's up from 56,000 in 2001. The hungry in southwestern Wisconsin include children, the homeless, and the elderly. Sixty-nine percent have incomes below the federal poverty level.

Many of those seeking help have to make the difficult choice between paying for food and other necessities. That means food versus utilities/heat, food versus rent/mortgage, or food versus medicine. It must be especially painful for parents to make those choices.

How to help. Second Harvest found that volunteers and faith-based organizations have played a vital role in providing and distributing food to those in need. Sixty-nine percent of food pantries, 63 percent of kitchens/meal sites, and 16 percent of shelters are run by faith-based organizations.

Many Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Madison are involved in reaching out to the poor. Some parishes work with St. Vincent de Paul conferences. Others cooperate with Catholic Charities or the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison. Others partner with ecumenical community efforts.

In the Beatitudes, Christ urges us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. During the holidays - and throughout the year - please reach out by sharing your bounty with those in need: buy some extra canned goods or diapers, volunteer your services at a local food program, or give a monetary donation to a charitable organization.

And remember to pray and work for public policies that will provide for a more just and equitable distribution of our resources.

Mary C. Uhler

Mailbag

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Promote Safe Place for Newborns

To the editor:

Thank you for highlighting the successful efforts of St. Clare Hospital to save newborns from abandonment through Wisconsin's Safe Place for Newborns program. [See editorials from February 7, 2002, October 17, 2002 and December 16, 2004.]

What your readers might find especially interesting is that Wisconsin's Safe Place for Newborns program began across the dining room table of caring families. They took their call to respect life and changed Wisconsin's law.

Passed five years ago, the "Safe Haven" law says: "A parent may confidentially relinquish his/her unharmed newborn, up to three days old, at any hospital in the state without fear of prosecution." All hospitals in Wisconsin are required, and are now ready, to receive a newborn.

Sure, not all families are called to change law, but they can take steps to change a life.

Wisconsin's Safe Place for Newborns is a non-profit organization that raises awareness of our law. We have a free crisis number (877-440-2229) and free, quality tools to pass out in schools and communities. These include small posters, brochures, and magnets, even a speakers' bureau. We also have radio and TV public service announcements ready but need financial backing to get them aired.

Respect Life month has ended, but our efforts should not. Contact us for samples of these tools and place them around your town.

Terry S. Walsh, executive director
Safe Place for Newborns of Wisconsin, 608-225-5544

Families appreciate support

To the editor:

The families of Cherie Johnson and Gary Treinen would like to express our gratitude to our relatives, friends, and the community for your support at the benefit concert held at St. Aloysius Church. It is our prayer that God will touch the hearts of all of you who have been praying and helping our families on this journey.

There are no words to describe how overwhelmed and touched our families have been with the love, concern, and generosity we have experienced. We are thankful to God for shining his love and light through your kind spirits.

Our special thanks go to After 6 and the St. Aloysius youth choirs for sharing their beautiful and inspirational music. We also thank Father Holmes and the community of St. Aloysius Parish, Giegerich's, Sarah Ramthun, Joyce Schoepp, Ann Cicero, Maggie Opichka, Julie Keith, and any others we may have missed who helped with the benefit.

May God bless you.

Cherie and Chris Johnson and Family, Sauk City
Gary and Deb Treinen and Family, Sauk City

Is there a double standard?

To the editor:

Several medical doctors and scientists worked for Dictator Adolph Hitler in concentration camps in Germany and occupied countries conducting experiments on living Jews resulting in the deaths of thousands of Jews. Much medical and scientific knowledge was gained by these experiments for future generations. In general, the populations of all nations were horrified over the deaths of Jews who were subjected to medical and scientific experimentation in spite of the gained knowledge.

Ironically, now many individuals who were and are horrified over the deaths of those Jews are promoting and supporting the destruction of human embryos through the process of embryonic stem-cell research, which has not produced a single cure at this point in time.

Are we witnessing a double standard?

Charles Sippel, Waterloo