Letters: Welcome signs can make a difference; Red Cross supports neighbors in need

Welcome signs can make a difference

Colorful signs welcoming immigrants first appeared around the country in 2016. The sign project began at the Immanuel Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, VA. A pastor was distressed by xenophobic political campaign rhetoric and decided to create a sign for the church; the idea spread to local yards and eventually became a national movement. I remember the colorful signs popping up in yards in neighborhoods all around State College. I had one myself and displayed it until the weather took its toll. The Friends Meeting has purchased some signs for sale/donation. Other organizations can join in by ordering signs at www.welcomeyourneighbors.org/. You can order them one at a time, but they are less expensive if bought in larger quantities; they can then be offered at a more affordable price. I hope other church groups and community organizations will join in and purchase signs to sell or give away. There are many folks in our area who were born in other countries; some of our friends and neighbors have special visas and are university employees or Penn State students, some are here seeking asylum, some are essential workers who are vital to our community’s economy. ... Many are worried. A simple welcome sign can help make a difference this holiday season.

Barbara Nilsen, State College

Red Cross supports neighbors in need

Home fires and other disasters don’t wait for a convenient time. It can happen in the middle of the night, on a holiday or any ordinary day, turning lives upside down in an instant.

When the worst happens, volunteers from the American Red Cross of Central Pennsylvania — neighbors from our own community — are there to comfort the families impacted and provide emergency lodging and recovery support. In the days and weeks afterward, our volunteers continue to check in, offering resources to ensure families don’t have to face tough times alone.

Thanks to donations, this kind of care happens every eight minutes, when Red Cross volunteers help someone affected by a disaster in the U.S. — most often, a home fire.

During the holidays, home fire responses spike nearly 20% nationwide due to seasonal risks. In Central Pennsylvania alone, more than 260 people typically need assistance after holiday home fires.

We’ll be there for them — because of our generous donors and volunteers, who help in so many ways. Not just after disasters, but also for people needing lifesaving blood, first aid and CPR, and support navigating the challenges of military service.

So, if you can, please consider donating this holiday season at redcross.org. Let’s come together again to ensure people have the support and care they need.

Laura Burke, Harrisburg. The author is the executive director of the American Red Cross of Central Pennsylvania.

‘And to the republic...’

Growing up I said the Pledge of Allegiance approximately 180 days/year for the 13 years I attended public school. “I pledge allegiance ... and to the republic ... one nation under God ...” Consequently, it is etched in my memory that the American founding fathers intentionally created a republic-based government.

In his Pulitzer Prize winning “Founding Brothers,” Joseph Ellis states in the preface:

“The national government established during the (Revolutionary) war under the Articles of Confederation accurately embodied the cardinal conviction of revolutionary-era republicanism ...”

“... in 1787 a tiny minority of prominent political leaders from several key states conspired to draft and then ratify a document designed to accommodate republican principles to a national scale.”

“The term American, like the term democrat, began as an epithet, the former referring to an inferior provincial creature, the latter to one who panders to the crude and mindless whims of the masses.”

“... no one had ever formed a republican government on the scale of the United States ...”

“According to the first census, commissioned by congress in 1790, nearly 700,000 inhabitants of the fledgling American republic were black slaves ...”

I suggest that the legislation that made removing the Pledge of Allegiance from schools possible was not because of the phrase “under God” but “and to the republic.” Because without this contextual reminder we have been duped into believing that our nation was intended to be a democracy that “panders to the crude and mindless whims of the masses,” who are fueled by an irresponsible and ubiquitous media presence.

Della Chuderewicz, State College