To the Editor:
My husband and I attend St. Michael's Church in Elizabeth Township. Recently, our priest announced that because the Salvation Army was not permitted to place its kettles in front of several area businesses, churches agreed to place the kettles in the entry of their vestibules for two consecutive weeks.
Because of the generosity of the parishioners, more than $1,000 was collected for the Salvation Army.
I was appalled when I learned the callousness of these businesses. In the Christmas season, don't these businesses have the spirit of giving?
The Salvation Army is a truly wonderful organization, helping those in spiritual, emotional, physical and monetary need. It is one of the first organizations to help when there is a fire or a disaster.
As we read in this very newspaper, the Salvation Army has been stretched to its limits with more and more families needing assistance. More than ever, it needs our help. I have been blessed with a good job and I donate to their cause regularly.
Christians and Jews alike realize that there are people who are in need, people who have lose their jobs, maybe their homes, and just need help.
We are our brothers' keepers. God asks us to help those in need, those who are less fortunate. How can any business in the Mon Valley, or anywhere, turn a blind eye to our brothers and sisters when they need us the most?
If I could obtain the names of the stores who banned the Salvation Army kettles, I would never patronize them again. Black Friday is so important to business owners, hoping they will make more money than the previous year. How black is someone's day when they don't have food or a job or when the children don't have toys to open on Christmas morning?
I wonder how the managers and CEOs can sleep peacefully at night knowing that they made what they felt was a "politically correct" decision rather than one from the goodness of their heart. Apparently they don't have one of those.
Laura Lee Pascoe
Elizabeth Township
