CRS must be restored
Most of us are blessed to be so far from real food shortage that our only contact involves sitting through those haunting TV commercials that show sick and starving infants and deformed children.
What most of us learn about wars is also provided by our TV, as we witness scenes of destruction, with women, children, and men searching through rubble for loves ones.
Quick glances at televised refugee camps introduce us to what society looks like for victims of droughts, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. We see masses of prefabricated tents as well as makeshift shelters, and waste management systems that are stagnant open ditches. Drinking water may arrive by trucks, food is minimal, adequate hygiene is impossible, and disease flourishes.
For 80 years, Catholic Relief Services has been developing humanitarian aid programs around the world. Currently, the agency has 7,000 employees working with 1,883 partners in 121 countries. CRS is a major recipient of USAID funding. Officials are now bracing for a 50% cut in the overall budget.
When the federal government announced a freeze, a pause in disbursement of federal grants to many agencies, it shocked the system. When a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the order, significant damage was already done. Employees were let go and doors were locked. Contractors do not wish to invest in projects that have uncertain futures.
CRS must be restored. Let’s spread the word.
— Mike Henrich, Richmond
School choice should not be a choice
I would like to thank Dr. Morgan for his letter in the Feb. 3 issue on school choice ballot initiatives. His comments about religious and other private schools practicing cherry picking when admitting students matches experiences that some of my family members and friends have encountered when trying to enroll their children in Catholic schools.
Discussion of school choice needs to include acknowledgment that public schools do not have the opportunity to choose their student demographics, which can impact performance measures, i.e. test scores.
While I fully support diocesan assessments on parishes to support our Catholic schools, I do not support diversion of taxpayer funding from public schools to private schools regardless of affiliation. School choice vouchers hurt the students left in public schools, which includes Catholic children with learning disabilities and other educational support needs.
— Stephanie Mabry, Midlothian
Sponsoring refugees is a solution
If ICE goes into churches or schools to arrest migrants, it is their duty to do so for my protection. It is truly gratifying to sponsor those from outside our country if you want them here. I know that because I have done it twice in my life: one being my mother-in-law from Mexico and another my daughter-in-law from Germany. So, if you want someone to become a citizen of our great country, why not sponsor them?
— Carol Reynolds, Marion
CRS lives out Gospel values
Several years ago, I traveled on a delegation with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to Ethiopia and saw how CRS, in partnership with local people, provides lifesaving nutrition for areas of famine, and transforms lives by building sustainable communities.
When visiting one village, we were told their story and given a tour that began with a pond. At one time, the pond was the only water source used by people and animals. Families experienced ill health, school attendance was poor, and families could not sustain themselves.
The story took a turn when, through a relationship with CRS, the community secured a clean water source. Villagers could grow enough food to sustain themselves. Clean water provided sanitation and improved health, and school attendance improved.
I returned from Ethiopia with respect and gratitude for the indispensable work of CRS. With CRS, we live our faith values and save lives. The Gospel calls us, as does Catholic teaching, to care for people who are vulnerable and impoverished, to be in solidarity with our sisters and brothers here and around the world.
I was shocked and dismayed when the administration announced its withholding of USAID funds. CRS is the top recipient of USAID funds and is dependent on it for many programs. CRS estimates that it assists two million people in Ethiopia with food assistance each month. What will happen to them without this funding?
We as Catholics have a responsibility to be a voice for our sisters and brothers.
— Patrice Schwermer, Hampton
Ecological disaster is causing immigration crisis
The biggest cause of the immigration crisis is the shocking devastation to the ecology of the land where the refugees are leaving. The Amazon Rainforest is dying. Mexico is suffering from multi-year heatwaves and drought. There aren’t many places in between that are in better shape.
The single greatest cause of ecological damage is climate engineering. It began after World War II and has been ramped up many times since. Project Cirrus (1947), and Operation Popeye in Vietnam (1967-1972) are early examples.
The University of Minnesota has estimated 40-60 million tons of nanoparticles are being dispersed into the atmosphere annually. A lab tested rainwater from my homestead and found a very significant amount of aluminum.
Climate intervention operations prevent the planet from responding to the damage caused by any anthropogenic activities.
— David White, Roseland