Thanks from Berthoud CARES

On behalf of Berthoud CARES, we would like to thank those children and families of Berthoud who donated to the Kids Helping Kids Campaign during the month of February. Thanks to the generosity of many, $1,125 was raised to assist those children and families in need in our community.
 
During the month of February, students at each of Berthoud’s four public schools worked together in collecting change to seed the Kids Helping Kids Grant Fund, a local community grant program for Berthoud children and families that will be administered by Berthoud CARES. 
 
We would like to extend our thanks to the following community partners who assisted in raising funds for this campaign:

• Turner Middle School, which donated the seed funding from the proceeds of the 2008 Bob Turner Classic equaling $600.
• Berthoud High School raised  $200.
• Ivy Stockwell Elementary School raised $178.
• Berthoud Elementary School raised  $37.
• Hays Market raised  $10.
• Berthoud Community Center
• Other donations raised  $100.

The Berthoud CARES Kids Helping Kids Fund has been developed with the belief that even small amounts of money, carefully used, can have an important effect on someone’s life. The Kids Helping Kids program will provide assistance for children and/or families within Berthoud, CO, who need to get through short-term crisis situations and who have needs that are not met by other public or private programs. This Kids Helping Kids grant fund will allow for emergency one time only grants. The goal is to contribute to the well being of individuals.
 
The Kids Helping Kids program overview and grant application has been posted on the Berthoud CARES Web site (www.BerthoudCARES.com). Requests for grant support must come through a Berthoud area school on behalf of a child/family in need. Once the application is complete, the application must then be submitted to the Berthoud CARES Kids Helping Kids committee for the review process. Individuals may not apply on their own behalf.
 
The Berthoud CARES Kids Helping Kids grant program will only issue payments to qualified vendors of applicants. Checks cannot be made directly to individuals. Grants will be awarded between $100 and $300.
 
Students at Berthoud Elementary, Ivy Stockwell Elementary and Berthoud High School coordinated their individual Kids Helping Kids campaigns during the week of February 9 -13. Each school worked to encourage donations from their students with the goal of raising additional funding for the program. Donation canisters were placed at each school the week before Valentine’s Day and each school appealed to its students and staff to drop their spare change into the canisters with the goal of adding to this community campaign that help other children/families in our community. 
 
For more information on the Berthoud CARES Kids Helping Kids Grant Program, visit the Berthoud CARES Web site at www.BerthoudCARES.com

— Berthoud CARES
Mark Chaffee, President
Jim Birdsal, Secretary
Dee Dee Broes, Treasurer
Martha Simmons
Robert Towles

They Call It “Equality”

I find it curiously inconsistent that so many politicians who voted to tax away bonuses from AIG managers, yet also voted to save their company from bankruptcy.

Let’s suppose for a moment that the owners of the Denver Broncos started hiring players because they were friends or relatives — not because they performed well on the playing field. How long would the Broncos remain profitable paying millions to players who lose every game?  Would the fans keep supporting a losing team every year?  Should the AFC award them with a Super Bowl “bailout spot” despite a losing season? 
 
Then why should AIG and those other losing companies be spared the price of failure, while the hard-working taxpayers and their children pick up the tab for their incompetence?

If the AIG managers do not deserve a bonus, then their company never deserved a bailout. So what can we say about the majority in Congress who voted FOR the AIG bailout and AGAINST the AIG bonuses? 

Their votes reveal what they won’t say — that they want a society that neither punishes you for your incompetence, nor rewards you for your hard work. 

And they call it “equality.” I call it “socialism.”
— Russell Josephson
Longmont