Charity Should Begin at Home

Having recently moved to the Ventura area and having read about former Peace Corps members’ intentions to reorganize former colleagues living here to raise money for the countries where they volunteered, may I offer the following suggestions for the group:

Take some time and drive through the poor neighborhoods in Ventura County and walk around the thrift store area of East Main Street in Ventura, the parks where the homeless, mentally ill and others less fortunate gather.

Then sit down and ask yourselves: Shouldn’t we direct some of our energies where we live? Raise funds for those here and speak in our schools. God knows enough of the children in our schools are children of parents from many Third World countries, uneducated themselves, needing more help than any of our overburdened social service agencies can give right now.

Nothing could please me more than to read a follow-up article in the newspapers about the former Peace Corps volunteers forming a new local Peace Corps. Our country is in critical need of strengthening; help is needed here and now.

COLLY GRUCZELAK

Ventura