Kiwanis thankful

To the Editor:

Fairmont Uptown Kiwanis Club thanks Hy-Vee for the hot dogs and buns, and Perkins Restaurant & Bakery for the ice for the baseball fundraisers in June and July at the Fairmont Elementary School ball diamonds.

A special thanks to the volunteer coaches and families of the players for their support throughout the season and for their patronage of the fundraisers.

Also, the Uptown Kiwanis Club thanks the Hy-Vee floral department for all the flowers it donated as prizes for bingo games at Lakeview Health Care Center. The residents really enjoy receiving the nice flowers.

Michael Lundgreen

Fairmont

Character matters

To the Editor:

Looking back over the past couple years, seeing the increase in division among people, the continued decline of respect for one another, increase in violent acts to fellow human beings and the increasing belief that oneself is the ultimate determination of right and wrong, it makes me wonder how we let ourselves fall so far away from what God wants us to be. (Matthew 5, 2 Corinthians 4)

Most people, 40+, would agree that this world is not better, character-wise, than it was when they were younger. Yet very few are willing to look in the mirror and blame themselves for standing by and letting it happen. When something goes wrong, it is always someone else’s fault. Whether it be such things as a mass shooting — (they should have had better security or there aren’t enough gun control laws) or someone having an abortion — (they have the right to do so or making it illegal will stop it) or bullying in schools, workplace or from elected officials (teachers aren’t doing their job, workers are getting too sensitive or doesn’t matter – all politicians have poor morals and ethics) or etc.

As Christians, we are to carry more of the blame than others as we profess to know and promote God’s word. Unfortunately, instead of turning to God and his perfect wisdom, we all too often act like nonbelievers and turn to worldly solutions devised by sinful humans. Aren’t we the ones professing to know and stand with God, believing in the foundation he has laid out for us to build on? Aren’t we the ones God has directed to be a light among the people of this world and promote his word as the solution to all problems?

A person’s character lies at the root of most of the evil problems we currently face in our country today. We, by ourselves, cannot change the poor moral compass our society is trending, but God’s word can. (Acts 15: 6-11)

We need to stop getting caught up in the false solutions offered by people of this world. Start by prioritizing what really matters — aligning ourselves and others with God’s word first and allow him to work on our hearts and theirs. This world’s character, while never going to be perfect, can only become better by an infusion of Christian love and ethics. This can’t be done by bullying someone or creating more laws, but by following and promoting God’s word in everything we do and stand for.

Anthony Scheff

Fairmont

Support appreciated

To the Editor:

The Cancer Fighters recently participated in the 2019 Relay for Life of Martin County. I want to thank my team members and everyone who donated. The total raised for the Relay as of July 11 is $71,336.89. We couldn’t do it without everyone who helped us raise that amount of money. Thank you so very much.

Marsha Williams

team captain, Cancer Fighters

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