Dear editor,

The holiday season should be spent sharing warm, wonderful meals, old family stories and the genuine spirit of the season.

I work for a company who is a Corporate Sponsor for The Salvation Army, has been known at holiday time for its bright red kettles and bell ringers.

The Army provides hope and Christmas happiness to folks in need through a variety of programs. One of the best loved is The Salvation Army Tree Program.

Through the Corporate Angel Tree Program, individuals become involved as they choose a specific child, &8220;an angel&8221; to help. This program has brought holiday joy to thousands of needy children during the Christmas season.

I asked local business to help &8220;adopt&8221; these angels. I sent out 30 Christmas cards to local businesses in Columbiana asking for help with this worthwhile need and got NO responses from anybody.

I was truly disappointed with this! It&8217;s a shame that the fine folks of Columbiana couldn&8217;t find it in their hearts to help and under-privileged child.

It is better to give than to receive. Remember this on Christmas morning and truly think about the &8220;real&8221; reason for the season.

Kimberly McGuffie

I must express my dismay over your paper&8217;s selection of Davin Palmer as &8220;Player of the Year&8221;.

Your choice of Plamer is an insult to hundreds of young men and women in the Shelby County system of high school athletics.

It is widely known among the student body of Chelsea High School and other athletic programs the reason of Palmer&8217;s suspension from the remainder of the football season.

Any athlete that is suspended from participating in the athletic program for any reason should not be selected as an athlete of the year.

School athletic programs are much more than a student&8217;s ability to perform well in sports.

Student athletic programs are designed to develop character and leadership qualities in young people.

These programs are designed to instill a sense of discipline, enable young people to learn to set goals and to realize that rewards in life come from sacrifice, hard work, and respecting one&8217;s self and others.

Palmer is an extremely gifted athlete.

He has the potential to achieve great things in professional sports where very often a blind eye is turned to drug use and other criminal behavior for the sake of being a &8220;winner&8221;.

However, you have done him a disservice by praising his ability without taking into consideration that the integrity of a person is what truly creates a champion.

High school athletes have a responsibility to be role models for younger athletes.

My hope and prayer for this talented young man is that he will be mentored by a person that can teach him that good character and the integrity of a person lasts a lifetime, long after one has lost the ability to play sports.

Betsy King Gonzalez, Columbian