Letter: Why do children have to rely on charity for coats?

In New England, having a proper winter coat is no luxury. For that reason, I’d like to thank State Representative David Muradian for organizing a successful coat drive, as reported by Grafton Common on December 5. Representative Muradian’s charitable works in the community are commendable and set an example the rest of us should strive toward. 

Although, it does raise a very serious question: why do these children not already have coats? Why have we set up an economic system where children must rely on the charitable gifts of strangers for coats? Coincidentally, in this case the same person who is doing the very nice charitable act is also the person who has the power to work toward solving those underlying problems and reduce the need for charity.

I would love to see Grafton Common produce a follow-up article that digs deeper. How many children rely on charity for their coats in Massachusetts each year? Are there any bills in the legislature that would help with this, or with poverty more broadly, and what is Representative Muradian’s position on any such bills? Not only do I think it’s perfectly reasonable and not at all negative or criticizing to ask our legislators why we have children without winter coats in New England and how they’re using their legislative powers to address the root causes, but I believe it’s a fundamental role of the news media to ask these questions and report the answers.

Dan Cusher