To the Editor:

For those who remember the ice storm of 1998, you’ll recall it as a wonderful example of the community pulling together to face a natural disaster. 

One person helped us install a wood stove while another provided the wood and with a way to heat, we invited people into our house and fed others.  

So did many others in our community. People with working phones let others make important calls. My husband helped people drain their water pipes. When the IGA discarded its melting ice cream, we took it home and invited neighbors in to celebrate the bounteous feast. No one was talking politics or blaming others for the disaster.  

Let us continue to support these American values of community and caring for our neighbors as we work for a better life for our children and grandchildren. And, as we face a new disaster that threatens our Democracy and economy, I urge you to vote for candidates who embody our community values and resist Trump administration policies that are causing economic chaos and a descent into authoritarianism.   

These are policies that put healthcare out of reach for many and cause hospitals and birthing centers to close.  They are policies that cause one in four of our children to go hungry. They alienate friends and abandon allies while supporting a communist dictator like Putin.  

Let us call for candidates who believe in feeding the poor, establishing a living wage to attack systemic causes of poverty, find ways to lower fuel, food, and other costs and support clean air and water through science that protects us all, and who oppose senseless, costly wars. I believe that Blake Gendebien is that candidate who has the courage to stand up to bullies and possess the humanity to care for fellow citizens. 

Lora Lunt
Potsdam