Area Youth Show Compassion

Editor, The Herald:
   Compassion and willing service are well-rooted among the area’s youth, as shown by the following: A week before the NFL Super Bowl, New Life Christian Academy announced a “Souper Bowl” donation drive for FACES Food Pantry, 416 N. South St., Farmville. An anonymous donor raised enthusiasm by offering first, second, and third cash prizes for classrooms that brought the most items.
   With missed snow days the NLCA staff decided to extend the food drive until Friday, February 26. By then the heap of pastas, canned soups, meat, and vegetables had grown to 896 pounds. The first and second grades won first place with 229 items. Kindergartners came in second with 224. Third and fourth grades took third prize with 121 items.
   Confidence in the coming generation was further bolstered on Saturday morning, February 27th when we dropped off the last of the collection at FACES. Two young men unloaded the food boxes from our vehicle. Inside the warehouse were more young men and lady volunteers-LU students all-to weigh and store incoming donations” along with helping fill orders for food pantry clients. God bless those who respond to the needs of the less fortunate!
Leroy Miller
Farmville

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Swallowing Borrowed Bacon

Editor, The Herald:
   I have been amused recently by politicians who boast of “Bringing home the bacon” for their constituencies. They have reminded us that they got federal money for this project or that project, the implication being, “Vote for me, for I know how to finagle federal funds for you.”
   We constituents may not be as clever as these politicians, but we have enough wit to understand that the “bacon” that they are bringing to us, is bacon borrowed from China, “bacon” that will have to be repaid by our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. What happened to the “pay-go” policy recently adopted with great fanfare by Washington? We voters expect action, not platitudes.
   If politicians really want to “bring home” something of sustained value, bring us jobs that are real, generated by a brisk private sector. Private industry and business generate permanent, self-supporting jobs, upon whose taxes government operations rely.
   Yes, politicians, “Bring home the bacon,” bacon that is paid for, not borrowed! Borrowed bacon is hard to swallow!
Fillmer Hevener
Buckingham

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The Census And Jobs
By REP. TOM PERRIELLO

   Starting next week, households across America will start receiving forms for the 2010 Census. Every 10 years, as defined in the Constitution, the Census takes a snapshot of our population, determining how many people reside within the nation’s borders, who they are, and where they live. The results help determine your representation in government, as well as how federal funds are spent in your community on things like roads, parks, housing, schools, and public safety.
   The U.S. Census Bureau is also recruiting temporary, part-time census takers for the 2010 Census. These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training and, best of all, census takers work right in their own communities. Census jobs are excellent for people who want to work part-time, those who are between jobs, or just about anyone who wants to earn extra money while performing an important service for their community and the nation.
   In Virginia’s 5th District, approximately 1,100 census takers will be hired to help locate households and conduct brief personal interviews with residents. Most positions require a valid driver’s license and use of a vehicle. Census taker positions pay $12 to $13 an hour and include reimbursement for vehicle mileage. Census takers start working in late April and continue for four to eight weeks.
    If you are interested in becoming a census taker in your community, you first have to complete a brief employment test, which you may take at a public facility in your own community.
   Individuals seeking employment in the following localities should call the Charlottesville census office at (434) 817-2893 or (434) 817-2906: Albemarle, Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson, and Prince Edward.
   Individuals seeking employment in the following localities should call the Roanoke census office at (540) 767-9500: Bedford, Bedford City, Campbell, Danville, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Martinsville, and Pittsylvania.
   Individuals seeking employment in the counties of Brunswick, Lunenburg, or Mecklenburg, should call the Chesapeake office at (757) 292-2260.
   If you are not sure which number applies to you, call 866-861-2010 or visit www.2010censusjobs.gov.
   Speaking of jobs, Washington still is not doing enough to confront the economic crisis across this country. Last week, I broke with my party and voted against H.R. 2847, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, because it was an incredibly weak bill. This legislation may make politicians in Washington feel good, but it misses the urgency of the coming construction season back on Main Street.
   When I sat down with business leaders in Virginia during the last district work period, they were full of great ideas for creating jobs, but they also shared with me that the job-creation tax credit wouldn’t do a lick of good if they don’t have the consumer demand or credit from lenders. In addition, Virginia lost $4.5 million in transportation funding under this bill. If we miss the summer building season, we are flirting with a double-dip recession just as the American people are ready to get back to work building things again. I have strongly supported multiple efforts to reclaim bailout money and invest it in direct lending to small businesses, infrastructure construction, and retrofitting of existing building stock. These proposals create jobs, increase our competitive advantage, and can be done in time for the summer building season to be a success.
   Elites in the Senate from both parties failed to meet the urgent need for bold steps on job creation when families around America are still struggling. Wall Street and Senators may be through this recession, but the rest of America is still fighting to keep the bills paid. I represent Southside Virginia, not the U.S. Senate, and I will continue to fight for real job creation programs, not symbolic gestures that don’t put food on the table.
   Please feel free to contact me to share your concerns and ideas. You may call 1-888-4-TOM4US (1-888-486-6487); write to 1520 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515; or visit www.perriello.house.gov to sign up for my weekly e-newsletter.

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