Monday, September 22, 2008

City of Irving Wants to Help the Poor...How Ironic

A week ago the City sent out an email to its employees. I have copied and pasted the entire email for your perusal, minus some irrelevant contact info.

From: XXXX
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 3:04 PM
To: Shareit
Subject: Assistance for Families from Vista Del Lago Apartments

As many of you know, residents of the Vista Del Lago apartments were displaced when the complex was recently closed due to multiple code violations resulting in unsafe living conditions. The City Manager has suggested a way that City employees could assist these 80 families. Many of the families have children who need school supplies and clothing. Below is a list of supplies that are needed:

Folders with pockets and brads

24 count crayon box

#2 pencils

Spiral notebooks

Wide ruled notebook paper

Construction paper

Coloring books (for younger children)

For those interested in donating the above materials/clothing, please designate a collection point in your department. Please bring all donated items to the City Manager's Office by 5:00 on Friday, September 20. We will get them to the Housing and Human Services Department for distribution. If you have any questions or need more information, please call XXXX at ext. X or XXXX at ext. X. Thank you for your assistance to these families.

Well, the city sure is showing how generous its employees are. That's great, but you have to wonder why, if the city realizes these are some of the poorest folks in Irving, they don't take some more substantial measures to alleviate the problem of poverty. These kids would probably have needed help whether or not they got kicked out of their homes. Perhaps the city, upon realizing that it's causing the eviction of some of the poorest families in Irving, could come up with some plan that might actually help them in a substantial way, such as covering moving costs, first month's rent, application fees, etc. But since that would actually cost money, the city instead will take the feel-good measure of letting its caring employees donate their own money. I'm all for charity, but the hypocrisy of this plea for donations is just incredible.

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