By Edwin Crayton/Opinion
Well, guess what? You actually do have a ton of money. No, don’t look in your wallet– let me explain. If you live in the City of Natchitoches, you will benefit from a settlement resulting from a pcb spill involving Tennessee Gas. It happened in the late 1990s and a court signed a judgement which says that money is to be used for youth and citizens living in the city of Natchitoches and distributed in the areas of recreation, education, housing, economic development and seed money for grants. In other words, this money is designated to be used to benefit you, citizen of Natchitoches. The Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation (NCIF for short), handles these funds and last time I checked, it was between 2 and 3 million dollars. I’ve been going to their public quarterly meetings and I believe they could use lots more public input. And I do mean lots. With that belief in mind, I went out on the streets of Natchitoches, to ask locals their ideas on what to do with these funds. As I figured, they were very creative. This is just a sample of what the public can dream up:
“We need a youth ministry and outreach to build a brighter, safer Natchitoches.”
–Jonathan Sexton Sr., Natchitoches
“We need a community center for everyone. Let everyone be involved. We can do an educational thing for scholarships—youngsters learn a skill. I saved my 2-year old baby who was choking on candy. I saved him with safety skills I leaned at the National Parks of America” —Robert Lilly, Natchitoches
“Use the money to improve water systems.”- Teresa McDonald, Natchitoches
“Cancel student debt.” -Kevin Juarez, college student
“There are lots of run-down houses. Help people renovate them.” –Gabriel Polo, college student
“Lots of kids don’t have parental support. Pay adults to attend events with them such as events at the library, etc. It would work similar to Boys and Girls Club.” —Meghan Sylvia, The Gate Outreach Ministry, a van ministry that takes kids to church
“I am angry because the lawyers are getting more than the community. Since it’s water money, why don’t they make it so some of that money helps people pay their water bills? And then, that money can go back into the community.”-Randy Stelly, Retired Publisher
“I would help people get affordable places to live. People aren’t making as much money as they used to. The pay is not keeping up with inflation. Here, the average person makes $10 an hour. They need to be making $20 an hour. The homeless rate isn’t as big as it is in other larger cities, but the percentage of homeless is high.” -Robert Lofton
“More rehab places.” -Angel Murillo, college student
“Invest in education, school music programs and athletics.” -Allison Flores, student, NSU
You probably have plenty of ideas yourself. Don’t keep them to yourself, Natchitoches needs them. If you have a charity organization that needs funding, attend a public quarterly meeting of the Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation and ask them how to apply for funding for your project or organization. Bring your neighbors. Bring your friends. (Bring people who aren’t your friends.) Also ask NCIF about scholarships. We have a lot of truly bright young people living in this town who really should be in college, but aren’t because they just don’t have the money. Wouldn’t it be great if annually, we could give scholarships to 100 needy, deserving students? These would be students who have potential, but who wouldn’t ordinarily qualify because their grades are below the usual high- grade point average scholarship committees are impressed with. The money is there folks. Just sitting there waiting for you to use it to turn your great ideas and dreams into reality. Why not use it? The Bible says, “You have not because you ask not (James 4:2-3).” Amen. So, start asking this community foundation for money and start now. The Natchitoches Community Improvement Foundation is supposed to advertise meetings in the local paper. The chairman is Harold Bayonne. The next meeting should be in June or July. They are usually on the second Tuesday and start at 6pm. But check papers and news media frequently, especially this column.
“We always hear about the rights of democracy, but the major responsibility of it is participation.” -World Renowned New Orleans Jazz Legend Wynton Marsalis
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” -Matthew 22:39
Go to church Sunday. God has a message for you there.
The opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the Natchitoches Parish Journal or its associates.
