O.C. PLATFORM : Uncharitable Sales

I do not condemn the sale of alcohol. I do condemn the sale of alcohol on city property.

I was horrified to see local businessmen and council members out for a “fast buck.” We parents teach our children it is wrong to sell drugs; and yet, our city businessmen fought for and won the right to sell alcohol (a drug) on city property, because it was quicker than selling T-shirts and brownies.

What a mixed message. Advocates of alcohol sales argued that the money from selling beer would be greater than that raised by holding dozens of bake sales. This money was not raised for charity, but in the name of Main Street and ultimately the profit margins of the businesses located there.

To those fund-raisers who are tired of doing it “the old-fashioned way,” maybe it’s time they remember that charity is not calculated in dollars and cents because you cannot buy your way into heaven with brass plaques and park benches. You get there by the deeds that earned them.