LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Letters to LETTERS |
Dear CAMP Rehoboth,
We are seeking community leaders interested in our Sussex County youth. Our Kent Sussex AIDS Program (KSAP) has a number of health promotion and risk reduction projects operating in your area. Our youth prevention project, PLAY! (Prevention, Lessons and Activities for You!) works with kids to create safe settings and supportive activities enabling them to discuss issues, practice communication skills and learn options to reject alcohol, drugs, tobacco, violence and unsafe sex. We run discussion groups for youth and do training about HIV/AIDS in the community. Our next phase is to build a mentorship team with adults. We would like to bring youth and adults together once a month to talk about what is going on in the community, what resources are available or needed, how special projects may help bring groups together and to help youth build skills by working with matched adults (mentors). We believe Sussex County youth have much to offer and need a place to communicate with adults without fear of punishment. If we learn from each other, we can build with each other! To find out how to get involved, call 302 856-2388. Sincerely, Ray Collins, CAAC PLAY! Community Organizer Dear Steve, On behalf of Rehoboth Beach Main Street, I would like to thank you and CAMP Rehoboth for all your help getting the desserts for the fourth annual Community Unity Dinner. I really believe that the desserts are the reason that people keep coming back year after year. Honestly, everyone always comments about how wonderful they are. All of your help really took a lot of stress off of me and added to the tremendous success of the dinner. Over the past year and a half, you and your organization have really made my job a lot easier and I truly appreciate that. Again, thank you for all of your help and your continued support of the Main Street program. If there is ever anything Main Street can do to help CAMP please let me know. Best Regards, Anne Marie Burnell Program Director, Rehoboth Beach Main Street (CAMPnote: All CAMP Rehoboth had to do was get the word out that we needed donations. The real thanks goes to the Blue Moon, Cloud 9, Subway-Downtown, and Tastefully Done for their willingness to provide the desserts.) To the Editor: Two American ideals that we can all agree upon in the abstract are justice and its corollary, equal protection under the law. It has taken some time, but now American jurisprudence recognizes that minority citizens must be treated fairly. It is now illegal for landlords to racially discriminate, for employers to hire or fire based upon gender, or for stores or restaurants to refuse service to religious minorities. However, open discrimination against homosexuals remains in large part legal according to federal law, and that of most states. Gay people may be fired, demoted, or passed over for a raise solely because they are gay or are thought to be gay. Usually landlords may legally refuse to rent to a gay person or to someone they think might be gay. Gay or perceived gay persons may legally be refused public accommodations in most states and municipalities. We submit that such an egregious lapse in federal and most state laws violates our American sense of justice as well as the sensibilities of most thinking people. Approximately 6% of American citizens are homosexual and thus lack such equal protection under the law. State and federal legislators should address this matter of simple justice. Douglas and Corey Marshall-Steele Dear CAMP Rehoboth, We are pleased to announce the success of the 1997 Delaware Pride Festival last October. The weather was very cooperative. It is important to note that it was our community that made the event possible. Delaware Pride was able to contribute $250 to one AIDS organization within each county, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. With the new year, we are writing to confirm our plans for the 1998 Delaware Pride Festival in Wilmingtons Rodney Square on October 3. We encourage you to spread the word. Our community and members of Delaware Pride thank you for your support. Sincerely, Delaware Pride Committee Dear Friends, As we close the year of 1997 and our activities to prevent HIV/STDs in the community, I recall all the times throughout the seasons you have offered your support. Our activities are such that without the help of leaders such as yourselves we would not be able to transfer the important information about health and responsibility, nor conduct the forums for individuals to discuss the difficulties of behavior change. The little towns of Delaware have much strength due to the resources of people like yourselves. From the entire staff of KSAP thank you for all you have given and a very happy new year. Sincerely, Teet Sharp Outreach Assistant, Kent Sussex AIDS Program. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 8, No. 1, February 6, 1998. |