Letters

I have only been a resident of Howell for about two-and-a-half years. I have taken an active role in trying to fulfill my civic duty as a citizen in this town of 52,000 people. Consequently, I am appalled that in a town with such a large population there are maybe 30 or so people that regularly attend Township Council meetings, planning board, zoning board, local board of education and regional board of education meetings.

These are all the meetings where big decisions are made that have huge impacts on our lives and our pocketbooks. I know that people are busy working and tired at the end of the day. But what is the point of working toward a better life when in one two-hour meeting a board of five to 10 people can make a decision that can have a huge negative impact on your health and safety, your property, your taxes, your quality of life and education. Right now there are many very serious issues before every board that are affecting all of us in Howell. I will pick one issue to share.

Recently, the Freehold Regional High School District has redistricted/tweaked part our town yet again. This move does not only affect the kids that were moved, it will affect every child in this town because they will all be in an overcrowded Howell High School. This is the fourth time our town has been impacted by mandatory redistricting since 1998. According to the official numbers, this latest move by the board is going to put Howell High School at capacity by the 2007-08 school year. This is a fact presented by the regional district’s demographer, T&M Associates. The numbers were presented at the Nov. 9 meeting.

How do all of you feel about having your children in an overcrowded high school while two other high schools in the regional district will have 500 combined openings for their children? Seem fair? Well if you want what is best for your child’s education you might think it is wise to attend the next Board of Education meeting on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the FRHSD Pine Street administration building in Englishtown.

Alternatively, you can sit idle, and two years from now when there is an overcrowding problem you will not be able to undo what was done today. It is like trying to piece back together a building that had exploded — the moral is to be proactive, not reactive.

Ask yourself why the other seven towns in the FRHSD have not had their children moved around like pawns on a chessboard. I will tell you why — because when their children are impacted they come out by the hundreds to defend their kids and fight for what is best for them.

Howell has historically allowed themselves and their children to be pushed around. So now it has set a precedent with the district that they can do whatever they need to do at the expense of our Howell kids. Historically, we have not and still are not protecting them. The few that have been fighting this issue were told publicly by the superintendent that Howell does not have the public support to back this fight. Well, I hope that we can show Mr. Wasser what we are made of. We are a very large diverse group of people who do care for our kids and want the best for them.

Karrie Dicso

Howell

Lending a hand to area residents in need

As we approach Thanksgiv-ing and the holiday season here in Ocean County, we pray for the continued generosity of our citizens to lend a helping hand to needy families.

Ocean County Hunger Relief serves 33 food pantries throughout the county and the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Coun-ties supplies groceries to 96 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other feeding programs in the county. Food stocks are stretched more than ever because these food pantries are serving larger numbers of families.

Ocean County Hunger Relief can be reached at (732) 505-HELP, and the Food Bank of Ocean and Monmouth Counties at (732) 918-2600.

Organizations from churches to scouts, from charities to civic groups, will be sponsoring food drives in the weeks ahead. Ocean County residents have big hearts.

We thank our citizens for their generosity and encourage them to help local food drives so our needy families can share in the joy of a bountiful Thanksgiving and joyous holiday season.

Gerry P. Little

freeholder deputy director

Toms River

New Jersey residents urged to ‘give all babies their nine months’

Babies are in crisis today. Nearly half a million are born prematurely every year and the number is rising. In New Jersey, March of Dimes volunteers are organizing events to raise awareness as part of its national effort to save babies from premature birth by funding research to find the causes and by supporting local programs that offer hope and help to families with a baby in intensive care.

Premature birth is the No. 1 killer of newborns and a major cause of serious health problems. It costs society billions of dollars every year.

Every year in New Jersey, nearly 14,000 babies are born prematurely. That is why the March of Dimes has designated November as Prematurity Awareness Month — to send the alert that premature birth is a crisis in our country and to bring people together to help give all babies their nine months.

In November, visit marchof

dimes.com and find out what you can do for pink and blue to help prevent premature birth.

You can send a message of hope for premature babies by wearing pink and blue, raising awareness with wristbands, sending e-mails and letters, and supporting research. Visit marchofdimes.com to help give all babies their nine months during November and any time of year.

The March of Dimes prematurity campaign has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecol-ogists, and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. American Baby magazine and Working Mother Media are national media sponsors.

More than 46 professional and consumer organizations have become campaign alliance members, including the Amer-ican Academy of Family Physi-cians, the American Hospital Association and the American Public Health Association.

The national prematurity campaign sponsors are CIGNA and FedEx, and Prematurity Awareness Month sponsors are First Response and Arm & Hammer Oral Care.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies, and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth.

For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or at its Spanish Internet Web site at nacersano.org.

Stacy Galasso

communications coordinator

March of Dimes

New Jersey Chapter

Pine Brook