Letter: Support your community, schools

EDITOR,
Everybody knows by now of the state of California’s financial struggles, as well as how Sacramento has made its problems into localities’ problems by raiding (some would say stealing) local governing agencies’ revenues. This buck-passing has made the impact of today’s struggling economy even worse for both the city of Scotts Valley and the Scotts Valley Unified School District.
Some dedicated volunteers at the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation are launching our town’s first annual Community Day on Saturday, Sept. 18, to reduce the impact of budget shortfalls on our schools and community. So far, scores of merchants wanting to help have agreed to participate by pledging a percentage of their sales on that day to the Ed Foundation’s efforts.
Dozens of residents around Scotts Valley are hosting yard sales and bake sales on Community Day and allocating a percentage of their sales to the Ed Foundation. (For a list of yard sale locations, check out www.svef.net.)
I’ve even heard of children planning to run lemonade stands that day to raise money for their schools.
What a perfect day to get a haircut at a participating salon, enjoy lunch at a participating restaurant or pick up yard supplies at a participating store. You get what you need, local merchants who care about our town and schools get your business, and our schools get some spare cash that’s desperately necessary.
If you’re a local merchant who would like to participate or a resident who would like to host a garage sale or bake sale, please contact Community Day chairwomen Gina Johnson, at gi**********@sb*******.net or 334-1640, or Lori Gentile, at lo********@ya***.com or 430-9680.
And if you’re a resident or supporter of the greater Scotts Valley community, whether your motives are purely altruistic or you just want to catch a bargain, it’s especially important to shop Scotts Valley on Sept. 18.
Jim Reed, Scotts Valley mayor