Letters: Join friends, neighbors at Alternative Christmas Fair; The real ‘enemy within’
Join friends, neighbors at Alternative Christmas Fair
A Centre County tradition since 1982, the Alternative Christmas Fair is a way to give to more than 30 charities and participate in the true spirit of the holiday season.
This year, the ACF will pass the million-dollar mark in total donations to charity since its inception. It has raised $992,078 to date.
University Baptist and Brethren Church (UBBC), long a seat of progressive Christianity, started and still administers the Alternative Christmas Fair.
On Sunday, Dec. 8, 31 charities will set up booths at UBBC, 411 S. Burrowes St., State College. Between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. that day, people from the community will come to the fair. They browse the booths, talk with representatives of the charities, and on a single sheet of paper select which ones they want to support and how much they want to give to each. Then they head to the check-out line and pay.
UBBC furnishes each donor with attractive cards and envelopes so that they can give them to friends and loved ones informing them that a Christmas donation has been made in their name to a particular charity. Soups, sandwiches and desserts are available for the “shoppers” to purchase too.
Every penny of the charitable donations goes to the participating nonprofits.
The ACF offers online giving and mail options as well. The online fair lasts from Dec. 1-22. For more information go to https://www.ubbcwelcome.org/acf.
Join your friends and neighbors at The Alternative Christmas Fair!
The real ‘enemy within’
State Senator Dush’s malicious claim that 77 overseas voters falsely voted makes me realize once again that President-elect Trump was right: There is an enemy within. Republican officeholders.
Realizations about DEI programs
Professor William Rothwell penned an editorial in these pages expressing his concern DEI programs at institutions like Penn State might be under scrutiny when the Trump administration takes over the executive branch come January. Well, hopefully. We all have a stake in calling out and ending all kinds of unjust discrimination. What Bill did not do was point out any such discrimination at Penn State. If he is aware of any such discrimination I encourage and support sanctioning those responsible.
Perhaps Bill should abandon the comfort of his office and make his way over to Recreation Hall or the athletic complex on East Campus and ask the folks responsible for those programs how they practice inclusion in their programs. Funny thing about sport programs at a place like Penn State, if coaches used characteristics like race to determine the individuals that they include in their programs they would be and should be fired immediately. Bill should ask himself “if PSU athletic programs pursue excellence by including the best candidates to fill positions, why wouldn’t a similar approach be the best approach university wide”?
Corporations and institutions across the country are realizing some truths about DEI programs. They are expensive and produce little in the way of services and production, and often unfairly and tragically exclude qualified and deserving individuals.