February 7, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

From our readers

Not interested in CHCA

What’s with Mary Anna Ross Cowper and Co. [“Where’s the CHCA”]?

The CHCA, despite its best efforts it seems, puts out a very good paper that is of interest to many beyond the borders of Chestnut Hill. I’m sure I speak for a majority of readers who are happy to not have the CHCA’s monthly controversies or snore-inducing opinion pieces cluttering the valuable news and service information the Local delivers every week. Don’t worry Mary Anna; we know the CHCA owns the paper. Your sense of self-importance won’t let us forget.

I do have a bone to pick with the editor. Perhaps he should have asked why the CHCA wasn’t supporting a Martin Luther King Day of Service project? Maybe if they weren’t so myopic, spending their free time crafting annoying letters to the editor, they could do something of benefit worth writing about.

P.S. I buy the paper on the newsstand and wouldn’t feel bad paying 75 cents.

Bob Johnson
Pymouth Meeting

I really enjoy reading the Local. There’s always interesting stuff in it and it’s easy to skip the reports of the CHCA’s internal bickering. As a Mt Airy resident I would be willing to pay $25 for a subscription, but I wouldn’t join the association at any price since I don’t live in Chestnut Hill and have no interest in the association’s goings-on.

Eve Segal
Mt. Airy

D.A.R.E. fundraisers are scammers

I see them all over the neighborhood: at Staples, in the Acme and just this afternoon at the 7-Eleven on Willow Grove Avenue. Twenty-somethings wearing suits and bright smiles, asking for donations to D.A.R.E., a charity that fights teenage drug abuse.

On first glance, it is refreshing to see members of the iPod Generation caring about someone other than themselves.

Upon closer inspection, however, it’s quite disheartening. It turns out these earnest youngsters are not volunteers for any charitable organization. They are paid employees of a new get-rich-quick pyramid scheme that promises them the opportunity to make $50,000 a year. How? By setting up collection tables in community retail stores and asking for your hard-earned dollars.

The truth is that only five cents of every dollar actually goes to D.A.R.E.; 35 cents goes into the pocket of the young hustler smiling at you and a whopping 60 cents goes to a for-profit company based in Norriton which operates under several names, including Grand Slam Events.

 Chestnut Hill and its adjacent communities have a safe, homey feel. We pride ourselves on being friendly and caring. However, our caring attitude opens us to deception when we fail to ask the right questions. The next time a smiling young person approaches you in a local retail store and asks for a contribution, don’t be a sucker. Dare to ask where your money goes.

Stacia Friedman
Chestnut Hill