It was a good gesture, Demming

The editor: I write in response to an article written by Dennise Demming, titled “Christmas Indiges-tion?” published on page 10 of the Business Day on December 25. In the course of her commentary she states, “one company took Christmas cheer to a new level when they let loose 50 children on a shoe store to select their own pair of shoes by giving 50 children new shoes.” She went on to declare: “what will happen to them ... especially if their choice of shoes was inappropriate.”

Demming’s reference to these children suggests an image of wild animals “let loose” from some kind of cage. Her remarks were unkind, unjustified and unfair to the children and to the company that extended a special opportunity to those orphaned children. The company should be commended for their display of kindness, and the generosity they showed. It was the first time that some of these children were given an opportunity to have something new, and not a second-hand, used item. It was the first time that most were put in a situation where they could make a choice for themselves. The gesture was certainly in keeping with the spirit of Christmas and the exercise went deeper than the soles of new shoes, as it certainly touched the hearts of many. I am disappointed at Demming’s superficial reading of this gesture and as a concerned citizen, coming from an impoverished background with first-hand experience of what it is like to walk barefooted, not through choice, but through circumstance, I take offence to her attempt to ridicule the charity extended by this company; and to her negative portrayal of innocent children, who I am sure, welcomed the intervention by the company in question.

Concerned Citizen