COKE AND ME

Compassion.

Let’s see if I’ve got this right (“ ‘Hands’ to Reach Out to American Hungry,” by Dennis McDougal, Oct. 23).

If I send $10 to Ken Kragen, president of HandsAcrossAmerica, he’ll let me stand somewhere in the Mojave Desert at high noon and advertise Coca-Cola while holding hands with two people I’ve never met and singing “America the Beautiful”? If I send $35 he’ll throw in a T-shirt emblazoned with the logo “HAA.”

It’s an attractive offer, and I’m tempted to go for it; but I’ve got a better plan.

I mean, Coca-Cola has meant a lot to me over the years and I want to help the corporation in any way I can. But I could do much more for Coke if Ken Kragen would send me $35, let me have the Coca-Cola logo painted on the trunk of my 1972 Chevy and spread the word all year long closer to home.

DOUGLAS A. KERMODE

Long Beach