OPINION Bremerton
Page A4
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signed and include a daytime phone. Send to 3888 NW Randall Way, Suite 100, Silverdale, WA 98383; fax to 308-9363; or e-mail editor@bremertonpatriot.com; letters may be edited for style, length and content. Friday, June 22, 2012 | Bremerton Patriot
Paying it forward IN OUR OPINION
Nearly 500 souls turned out all over Kitsap County Wednesday to do the right thing. The United Way of Kitsap County’s 19th Annual Day of Caring featured 475 volunteers doing work at 35 sites throughout the area. Some of that volunteer work included landscaping at the Hewitt Homeless Shelter, the Bremerton Housing and Homeless Shelter, Hospice of Kitsap County and the Dispute Resolution Center of Kitsap County. Volunteers also did yard work for an elderly Port Orchard couple and various cleanup efforts were done inside and out at the Kitsap Regional Library’s Port Orchard branch. Other projects included a painting project at Kitsap Mental Health Services, various park cleanups, medical records filing at Peninsula Community Health Services, beautification at the Bremerton YMCA, multiple trail restorations and more. Seeing so many people come together to help others is truly inspiring. We hope, in fact, that the Day of Caring inspires those who participated, and others who did not, to make volunteering a regular part of their lives. Shelters, soup kitchens, schools, libraries, churches, service organizations and others could all use a hand now and again. There really is no greater reward than the one that comes from helping somebody else when nobody is watching. It’s not about scoring points or fulfilling some sort of mandate. Instead, it is about doing the right thing because, well, it’s the right thing. We salute those that participated in this year’s Day of Caring and encourage them and others to keep up the good work all year long.
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Making it harder on crime There is always all of your valuexisting block watch groups Everything going to be indiables from the and looks to form a wider area viduals willing to vehicle or at least of coverage with an improved Bremerton engage in certain store them out of network for communication. types of criminal sight. Hopefully this will inspire activity because Do not leave other areas of Bremerton to it’s easy to comyour personal step up their organizational mit and profitinformation, efforts. able. Who is it credit cards, If you have not checked out that is making it wallets or purses the Crime Prevention page on easy and profitin your vehicle. the City of Bremerton website, able? To a certain Do not leave you should. Colleen Smidt extent, Bremerton property keys Information about graffiti residents and citior garage door abatement and neighborhood zens are. openers in your vehicle. Park watch programs is available In the last month the numyour vehicle in a well-lit area if and easy to access. ber of car prowls and vehicles you can. Additional being broken into has been Consider addibrochures on significant. tional lighting or Get to know your a variety of Vehicles left unlocked with motion-sensor community neighbors and their valuables inside of them espelighting for your crime prevenvehicles. Know who cially when those valuables are porch, yard or tion and safeis coming and going visible are prime easy targets. driveway. Get ty issues are from your street or A rise in this type of crime to know your also listed. rate is expensive for the vicneighbors and Thefts and neighborhood on a tims, can become a continuous their vehicles. crime will regular basis and who drain on emergency resources Know who gravitate and is not. Report marked and basically makes a commu- is coming and suspicious activity to the occur in and nity or neighborhood less than going from your around areas police department. desirable. street or neighthat continue Residents that make it easier borhood on a to provide the for crime to occur on their regular basis and opportunity property put other properties who is not. and right environment for it. in the area on the possible Report marked suspicious Every resident can and criminal target list. activity to the police departshould do a little more to The Bremerton Police ment. change that environment and Department is doing what it One area that has been take away as many of those can with extra patrols in the motivated by several of these easy opportunities as possible. areas that are most affected, incidents is the Manette area. Colleen Smidt writes about but it is really up to property A group of residents there everything Bremerton in owners and residents to do are working on establishing a Everything Bremerton. their part as well. Neighborhood Watch group. Lock your vehicle. Remove This group will work with