<i> Our readers wrote letters throughout...

I am the mother of a 7-year-old Tiger Scout (Boy Scouts of America). He participated in the Scouting for Food Drive.

After distributing more than 70 bags to homeowners to use to donate canned goods, we returned a week later, as indicted by instructions printed on the bag, to collect the donations. My son distributed the bags with excitement, hoping he would collect many cans that would be given to hungry people.

It is hard for me to explain to him why, out of the more than 70 bags we distributed, only seven generous people put out donations. It is even harder for me to understand because these bags were distributed in the area where we live--an affluent, planned development in Irvine.

I hope that people are not so calloused as to have no desire to help others. I hope they are not blind to the fact that it is possible for any family to some day need help from others.

But what I hope the most is that people realize that our children, when grown, will be responsible for taking care of us. If values and compassion to others are not honored now, we cannot expect to receive it later.

ALICE EFFENDI, Irvine