Meals on Wheels program in danger

I enjoyed your article on my uncle (my Mom’s brother) Don Stolte — regarding the local Meals on Wheels program.

It’s nice to see stories about people trying to help in the community, sharing their blessings with the community they are a part of.

As you know, however, the federal government, controlled by Republicans and led by Donald Trump wants to cut the block grants which support local Meals on Wheels programs nationwide.

Your newspaper would be doing a valuable service to your community if you provided this additional and important context. Programs like the one my uncle is participating in won’t survive without federal government support. They will be much reduced in their scope. There is a reason these programs have historically relied on this kind of funding; charity couldn’t and cannot handle the scope of problems which our large and populous country must grapple with.

I hope you’ll consider doing a story about what is happening federally so that your community in Whitefish can act to preserve vital community services. Stories like the one you did will be harder to come by if our nation follows through on the budget cuts planned by the GOP.

I’m proud of my uncle’s work in the community. He is modeling how each of us can do our part to make our country stronger. Let’s translate that into supporting the federal government where it can empower us to help in this work. —Patrick Briggs, Sherwood, Oregon