LETTERS: Hunger on LI, unemployment benefits

Too few turkeys

I have been following your articles on feeding the hungry and also watching the reports on TV. Thank you for bringing so much attention to this matter. We are a parish with a very high demand from families in great need of help.

Every day we are seeing new people who never thought they would need our services. These are the same people who used to donate to help others; now they are in need. This year we provided many turkey baskets and fed 200 families. Unfortunately, we also had to turn some families away, which breaks my heart. We are a very small outreach with a very big client list. My dream is that one day we won't need to turn people away.

Deborah Kirnon

Brentwood

Editor's note: The writer is the director of St. Anne's Parish Outreach in Brentwood.

Jobless figures higher outside of New York

The letter "Benefit extension's too expensive" [Nov. 28] begs for a response. The writer asks what's wrong with the 26-week unemployment benefit that has been in effect for as long as he can remember. Absolutely nothing except the facts.

Starting in the mid-'70s, there have been multiple 13-week extensions given to the unemployed, provided any time unemployment exceeded 6.5 percent. Second, the writer deserves a reward if he can find a New Yorker who will collect for 99 weeks. The threshold percentage of unemployed in New York State is now below 8.5 percent, and will not trigger that level of benefits.

However there are states where the unemployment rate is nearly 15 percent during this recession, which probably means that the real figure (including discouraged and underemployed workers) is closer to 25 percent - no laughing matter. That's where we find 99-weekers.

There is a tone in the letter, and in the right wing, that implies that the unemployed are responsible for their plight. With six people unemployed for every job opening, if all possible openings were filled no matter what the level of these jobs, or a total mismatch of skill set (truck drivers are not neurosurgeons, construction workers are not systems analysts), it would still leave almost 85 percent of the unemployed without jobs.

Joel Herman

Melville