Editor’s Note: Letters regarding the upcoming election will be accepted through Friday, Oct. 24. Letters pertaining to the election which are received after that date will not be published.
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Dear Editor,
Each year, our neighbors pack shoebox gifts that are delivered to children in need around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received.
Anyone can pack a shoebox! Individuals, families, churches and groups fill empty shoeboxes with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys, such as dolls or soccer balls. A regular shoebox can be used, or you may contact us and we will provide a pre-printed one.
Once your shoebox is packed, it can be tracked with a “Follow Your Box” label. You will receive an email letting you know to which country your shoebox was delivered.
A personal note (and photo) can be included with your gift. Very often, the children will treasure those notes as much as the gifts.
Once the shoeboxes are packed, they are collected locally at Covington Bible Church, 2140 S. Carpenter Drive, Covington. National Collection week will occur Nov. 16-23, 2020. Those dropping off shoeboxes will remain in their vehicle while volunteers wearing masks and gloves handle the boxes.
From Covington, the boxes will go to one of eight processing centers where they will be prayed over and prepared for overseas shipment.
The shoebox gifts go by plane and freighter to over 160 countries and then continue their journey by truck or helicopter, and sometimes by camel or elephant, to their final destination. There, trained pastors and community leaders distribute the gifts to the very excited children.
This year, maybe more than ever, children of the world need to know that God loves and sees them! A shoebox full of simple gifts, packed with love, can deliver that. It may seem like an impossible task during COVID but as Edward Graham (grandson of Billy Graham) said of Operation Christmas Child 2020, “We are well placed to be a part of a miracle.”
It is our hope that, despite the chaos of COVID, 2020 will be remembered as the year that more shoeboxes than ever were packed from our area and that you will choose to be a part of that miracle!
Please visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ for more details and feel free to contact one of us for more information. You will also be able to pick up a shoebox at some local businesses in both Covington and Clifton Forge beginning this month.
And lastly, if you are on Facebook, please look for our group page: Alleghany Highlands/Western VA Area OCC. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Laurie Fitzgerald
Area Coordinator
Michele Kahle
Media Support Operation Christmas Child
Mid-Atlantic South Region/Western Virginia
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Dear Editor,
In the Saturday, Oct. 3, edition of the Virginian Review, I, as a simple member of our community, couldn’t help but notice a letter to the editor whereas the honorable Bill Wilson was making an effort to “sway” how voters should vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Bill also laid out how so many of his friends were favoring the Trump ticket. Well, I consider myself one of those friends and I can respect his and everyone else’s opinions about their own personal views on politics.
Bill also mentioned his political career of 16 years serving in the Virginia House of Delegates. This in itself is an admirable accomplishment, and one that most of us will never achieve anything close to it in our lifetime. I respect his contribution in serving our commonwealth and our community.
However, in his letter, Bill failed to mention that he served his tenure strictly as a Democrat. Not that there’s a thing in the world wrong with being of that persuasion. It’s just a noteworthy tidbit of information worthy of mentioning so the readers can maybe better understand the basis of his letter.
We are in a society today that one party automatically opposes the other, no matter what, just because we associate ourselves with the party we have chosen.
Bill also mentioned that he, as a Democrat, served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1974 until 1989. That was a long time ago; like 40 years ago. The Democratic party has changed dramatically over that span of years, and especially more so in the last 10 years.
What it stood for decades ago have now veered off in a radical direction that has far exceeded the public’s imagination. So, in Bill’s defense, I don’t think he really supports this new radical Democratic Party.
I know him well enough that I don’t believe that he can really support some of the new initiatives being push forward by the Democratic party. I know that he cares for his community, our government, and our amazing country way too much to support anything that would be counterproductive to the welfare of us all.
My friend, Bill, is an outstanding lawyer, and like all good attorneys, it is a well-known fact that cases are won and lost based upon factual evidence and the legal process used to weigh it all out in a fare assessment of the facts.
Although Bill cites all of the reports and accusations made about Trump by the media and his opposition, he fails to mention the lack of formal charges and/or convictions for those allegations that surely would have resulted in convictions, if only the fact actually existed. He fails to mention that there was no Russian Collusion, there was no “Quid-Pro-Quo,” and there was no real reason for the Democratic Congress to impeach this president. This is clearly a testament of how biased and mean-spirited our government has become.
Likewise, for Biden, there’s a lot of accusations about him and his family committing various improprieties for personal gain in handling of money with other countries and even with our own government. However, where’s the charges? Probably no charges, because the evidence and the facts aren’t available. This doesn’t make him guilty until he’s proven guilty. Nonetheless, he’ll suffer from the hit regardless of innocence or guilt. It’s a dog eat dog game! Anything goes! Say or do anything you must to win the public votes. Is this the Great America we all want?
From my point of view, the public has a tough enough time trying to sort out the valid information from the political fluff to make an informed choice. No matter what news source you watch or read, the media can’t be trusted to present the straight facts. Until this is corrected, the public, our government, and our country will be deprived of genuine political fairness and tranquility.
So, when Bill makes an effort to “sway” voters to vote for his idea of the best presidential candidate, please remember that he’s asking voters to support the most radical agenda this country has ever seen. No disrespect to my friend Bill, but to the contrary, I just want to express my concern for our nation in general.
We all need to be a lot more patriotic and a lot less political. Let’s all make America great again and vote our “patriotic conscious” and not so much our “political affiliation”.
Sincerely,
J.W. Tingler Jr.
Armentrout Road, Covington
The Virginian Review has been serving Covington, Clifton Forge, Alleghany County and Bath County since 1914.
