Backpack giveaway a huge success

The Chittenango Area Association of Churches has had another amazing year for our backpack giveaway to the children of the Chittenango School District. The Chittenango Area Association of Churches and the children would like to extend a great big thank you to all that donated and volunteered to help make this project once again a success. We were able to help move than 200 children with backpacks and school supplies.

Without your support we could not have made it possible to help our children. So thank you to Chittenango Physical Therapy; Chittenango Self Storage; Chittenango Lions Club; Montroy Development; Teague Accounting Xperts; Robert Benson Law Firm; Todd Caputo - Sun Chevrolet; Sen. David Valesky; Wilson Insurance; Assembly Bill Magee; Tom and Joan Clark; Chittenango Garden Club; Chittenango Leo Club; Lawrence P. Brown Attorney at Law; Central Automotive Service Bridgeport; Tops Market Chittenango; Gil and Marion French; Walmart of East Syracuse; Walmart of Oneida; KZ Automotive Bridgeport; CJ’s Car America Bridgeport; New York Bus Sales LLC; and Chittenango Rotary; Glenda Stucker; Barrett Bros. Auto Repair; 1st Presbyterian Church anonymous donors; and Gagnon Marine.

We also would like to thank local businesses that include Nina’s Pizzeria and Italian Restau- rant, Subway, and Tops Markets.

Your kindness and donations to benefit our children is very much appreciated. woman who was on the ad is one of many seniors who will be affected.

Dems need to focus on issues

I seem to find myself to be in the minority in today’s national Democratic Party.

I disagree with the tendency of most Democrats (including political candidates for Congress and those in the news media) to constantly bash Donald Trump over his obnoxious personality and his divisive comments.

As very-conservative “Morning Joe” Scarborough has said on his MSNBC show, when Democrats talk about Trump it just makes his supporters angrier and more protective of him, while corroborating their paranoid belief that the Democrats and the liberal part of the media are out to get Trump. Rather, as Joe suggests, Democrats need to focus on their values and telling the people how the federal government can make life better for all Americans.

They don’t seem to realize that most Americans agree with them that we need to protect the safety-net programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, College Student Loans, and Unemployment Insurance Benefits.

These are winning issues that we should constantly be talking about, not trashing Trump.