Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Spirit of Christmas

It's hard sometimes to get into the spirit of the holiday. Recently I was in the check-out line at a grocery store at Delta Oaks shopping center. A woman in front of me took one of the $5 tickets used to scan a donation to Food For Lane County, and she asked the young clerk to scan it until it totaled $100. Talk about the spirit of giving!

Then my husband and I joined our daughter, son-in-law and grandsons on a special evening bus tour to see the Christmas lights. All donations went to the Children's Miracle Network, with 100 percent staying in Lane County. Laidlaw Transit Inc. donated the buses and the fuel, and the Laidlaw drivers donated their time. It was a lovely tour. Because of some special people, the Christmas spirit is alive and well in Eugene.

BARBARA DUDLEY Eugene

Relief Nursery a model

With the Oregon Legislature and Gov. John Kitzhaber facing a $720 million hole in the state budget, it is important for us to look at innovative solutions to providing services to Oregonians. Every option needs to be considered, especially ones that can provide the same services for less money.

I had the opportunity recently to visit just such a program. The Eugene Relief Nursery is the perfect example of how state money can be used in a public-private partnership to create an effective community program. The Relief Nursery helps nearly 1,000 low-income families in Lane County. It has programs to help with parenting skills, drug and alcohol recovery and support, as well as a clothes closet, parent resource room and toy lending library.

The exciting thing about the Relief Nursery is how it has become truly a community project. It leverages money from the state with private donations from the community. Doing so really gives local supporters a sense of investment in the project.

The other strength of the Relief Nursery is that it focuses on providing the services that other organizations do not. The organization determines what the most needed services are, and then finds the financial support it needs to provide them.

I believe the Relief Nursery serves as a model of how such a public-private partnership can succeed. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

The ultimate gift we can give this holiday season is to find creative ways to stretch our money further so we can help more of the children and families that need it most.

KAREN MINNIS, Majority Leader

Oregon House of Representatives Wood Village

An eternal gift

At Christmas, Christians everywhere honor the birth of Christ, for whom the holiday is named.

We do not honor a man in a red suit, or a reindeer with a red nose. Nor do we honor the practice of giving of gifts made by the magi. We celebrate the fact that the gift was eternal life for all men, regardless of race, creed or color. He alone could overcome the law that states that all things must die. Because of him, we celebrate the gift of life here, and hereafter. Have a Merry Christmas. God bless everyone.

MARY PACK Springfield

Food effort a success

People throughout our communities left nonperishable food at their mailboxes the first two Saturdays of December. Their letter carriers collected that food and brought it to central locations. From there, the food went to local food banks for redistribution to our hungry neighbors.

During those two days, we picked up more than 158,000 pounds of food. That's a lot of food. We'd like to express our appreciation to the people that made this possible. Letter carriers have a unique opportunity to help the community. We come in contact with every residence six days a week. But without the help of others and the permission to collect the food while we're there, that advantage would disappear. The full cooperation of the U.S. Postal Service is a key ingredient to our success.

The food that we collected was contributed by thousands of generous individuals. Without those people, there wouldn't have been anything for us to pick up. Food for Lane County and the United Way helped by ensuring public awareness of our efforts. Local merchants placed flyers in their businesses, or donated money for printing costs. Other local unions affiliated with the Lane County Labor Council spread the word and encouraged participation.

The success of our food drive is the result of community action that benefits the community. Letter carriers are lucky to see first hand all that food coming together in one place. It gives us a good feeling to know that we're part of such a worthy endeavor.

THOMAS E. GATES, President

Branch 916, National Association

of Letter Carriers Springfield

CAPTION(S):

The Register-Guard welcomes letters on topics of general interest. Our length limit is 250 words; all letters are subject to condensation. Writers are limited to one letter per calendar month. Because of the volume of mail, not all letters can be printed. Letters must be signed with the writer's full name. An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released. Mail letters to Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail]