Letters to the editor

Urgent care

Community is vital to hospitals' health

Editor, The Times:

My 88-year-old mom was recently cared for at Stevens Hospital Emergency Department and my family and I want to acknowledge the compassionate and rapid care given to her.

Stevens ED is our local source for emergency care. This was not the first time they were able to provide care that was both effective and efficient.

Unfortunately, this time, Mom was not able to fight and we all lost a personal treasure. The caring staff at Stevens Hospital helped us with that transition too.

I worry that small hospitals will not be available to local communities in a day and age of high-tech and corporate expansion. Stevens Hospital has been a treasure in our neighborhood and we want it to continue in that care delivery by highly skilled staff who care. It is the personal touch that matters sometimes, and they sure gave it to us.

I hope we can continue to support health care at the local level and acknowledge the hardship when it is taxes and levies that are needed to make it happen. I believe the end result of keeping local health care viable is worth the effort.

— Maureen Doyle, Lake Forest Park

Way to go

On angels' wings

It's time to celebrate a milestone and thank a group of people who make this a better place to live, work and raise our families.

The Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound, the charity arm of Boeing employees, has just surpassed the $500 million mark in charitable giving.

That's right. Half a billion dollars.

Boeing employees and retirees have given half a billion dollars to nonprofits in the Puget Sound area since the fund's inception in 1951. They know that giving together by pooling their contributions is an extraordinarily powerful way to impact our communities, our neighbors, and our own lives.

Much of the $500 million from the Employees Community Fund has gone out to the community through local United Ways, which fund services that people rely on every day and focus on long-term solutions to problems.

Through good and challenging times, this partnership has cared for the larger community while allowing each partner to focus on its primary mission. After all, there are airplanes to be built.

So, on behalf of all who have benefited, it is our pleasure and privilege to say, "Thank you."

In the end, half a billion dollars is just a number. The true value is in the countless lives Boeing employees and retirees have changed as a result of their generosity.

— Carl J. Zapora, president & CEO, United Way of Snohomish County; Rick Allen, president, United Way of Pierce County; Jon Fine, president & CEO, United Way of King County; Erica Hallock, president & CEO, United Ways of Washington, Seattle