Poverty Story Offered a Poor Example

* The object of your Nov. 12 front-page story, “Poverty in a Land of Plenty,” seems to have been to make the reader feel sorry for the woman whose story is highlighted, if not feel guilty for living in such a “Land of Plenty.”

Yet, as far as I can tell, the woman you featured (1) decided to walk out on her husband while pregnant with her third child, then (2) moved across the country to Southern California where the cost of living is among the highest in the nation, and (3) rented an apartment in Irvine, where it is more expensive to live than most places in Southern California.

People must be held responsible for the choices they make. Would you run a front-page story about an Irvine attorney, physician or entrepreneur who was on the verge of losing it all because she overextended herself on her home mortgage, her luxury car lease and her credit card debt?

JAMES J. McDONALD JR.

Irvine

* The story featured Drew Ingram as an example of the poor and then castigated people in the county for not being sympathetic to the plight of people like her. If this is the best example you could manage, of course we are not sympathetic. The facts as stated in the article are that Ms. Ingram has a take-home pay of $850 every two weeks, well above government-declared poverty lines.

Rather than more welfare and housing assistance, perhaps she should follow the lead of other people and manage her own money without having a hand out to the taxpayers. Since she works in the North County, she could move there and save $250 a month in rent and additional $100 in auto expenses. That ought to be enough to take care of the desperate need for roller blades and Superman pajamas.

Sorry, Times. You didn’t make me feel guilty with this one.

DONALD R. BOOTH

Villa Park

* We don’t deserve that bad a rap. Orange County may not set donation records, but surely you have libeled the many generous residents of the county who do support worthwhile causes.

Your article says that “annual per capita giving to nonprofit groups here is only 14 cents,” according to a 1993 study by Princeton University.

Let’s see--that would amount to $369,796, using 1995 population figures. Assuming (although the article does not define terms) that we are talking only about donations to nonprofits that benefit the needy, I am sure there are plenty of them that individually surpassed that supposed combined total.

Please give them, and the wonderful people who support them, the credit the deserve. Fourteen cents definitely is not the average!

BETTY PATTERSON

Tustin

* Re: “Aid a Way of Life for Some Cambodians,” Nov. 14, about the Cambodian immigrants on welfare in Orange County.

I have a solution to their worries about welfare cutbacks: Get a job!

The woman you interviewed stated that she got “headaches” from English lessons, so she still speaks only Cambodian after living here and being on welfare since 1983.

She also stated that she was an agricultural worker in her native land. Here are two job suggestions which do not require mastery of the English language: agricultural worker (picking and planting); janitorial (cleaning homes and businesses).

I am truly outraged that this woman and 8,000 more like her can be here for 12 years and still be on the public dole. Also, I noticed in the picture that several of the multitude of children in her home were under the age of 12. So she comes here, is supported by the taxpayers for 12 years, and continues to have children she can’t afford. Change my name from “taxpayer citizen” to “sucker.”

CAROL M. MATHEIS

Foothill Ranch

* So we have 945 beds available for an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 “shelterless” people (the worst record in Southern California), yet, our GOP politicians are happily cutting welfare and health care in their “contract ‘on’ America.”

Party aside, I think it should be a requisite for every politician running for or holding office to live autonomously on the streets or in a ghetto for one year--without money, extra clothing, transportation, housing or help from friends and family. Perhaps those spoiled babies who live gratis on the government payroll would undergo an attitude change and realize just what real poverty means, then move to abolish it.

DERVA J. SNIDER

San Juan Capistrano

* In this area of affluence, it’s a disgrace that thousands of children suffer the effects of hunger and poverty on a daily basis. It’s difficult to understand that Orange County residents donate less to charity than do residents in other parts of the country. Perhaps many don’t know how they can help.

One anti-hunger program readily available to shoppers at supermarkets throughout California is the nonprofit group Food for All, which offers cards which the shopper hands to the checkout clerk along with the groceries. The brightly colored cards are easy to spot in racks in the checkout lanes. They are worth $1, $2, and $5 respectively, and you pay for them when you pay for your food. The contributions are tax deductible.

Ninety percent of the donations to Food for All go directly to local agencies. In Orange County the agencies include Catholic Charities of Orange County, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, Share Our Selves and Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter. These agencies work to ensure that their recipients have enough to eat in the short term and also that they are able to get back on their feet in the long term. The program his raised about $5 million for hunger and self-help programs since 1987 when it began in California.

I am a volunteer who helps promote Food for All in my area. I want people to know this is an easy, reliable and inexpensive way to give back to our community to be a “Shopper Against Hunger.”

RUTH MAY SIEGRIST

Huntington Beach