Who will step up to the challenge?

To the editor:

Today I'm troubled about the many things that are happening in our country and the world: the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, the high prices of gasoline, the thousands of people who are going to go without medication.

I understand that for everything there is a season and a time for every purpose. I also understand that there will always be those who will suffer no matter what a person does. What I don't understand is why it has to be children, the elderly or the disabled.

We, the richest nation in the world, can't meet the basic needs of the of the most disadvantaged of our citizens. Why? We know what must be done. The problem is will we do it, or are we going to have a harder time than the camel passing through the eye of the needle? One person can make a difference. Is it you?

SAM LADWIG, Cape Girardeau