Disappointing story on Difference Day

I was absolutely shocked by the banner headline on the Friday Oct. 26 Daily Herald: "How much of a difference will Wheaton make," by James Fuller, especially since it was published the day before National Make a Difference Day, and only looked at one facet of Make a Difference Day activities -- the schools.

I volunteered to hand out Make A Difference Day activity information at the French Market and more than a few people came over to my table and expressed sadness that they read in the Daily Herald that Make a Difference Day had fallen on "hard times," to quote one of those persons. They were surprised, as I was, that the paper felt it was headline worthy the day before the actual event. "What a downer for you volunteers" was how another gentleman put it.

Many people thanked me for the literature that I was handing out as it listed all the different merchants that were participating in Make a Difference Day, the location of the blood drive and voter registration taking place at City Hall, and the food pantry collection and the Operation Support Our Troops-IL collection taking place at parking lot No. 9. These sites told me they were a resounding success.

Unfortunately, your staff reporter, James Fuller, seemed to be continuing your papers' attitude regarding Mayor Gresk's decision on not making a reappointment to the Community Relations Commission. 1 would have thought that your disapproving editorial at the time would have been more than enough vengeance. If Mr. Fuller felt the burning need to rehash the whole incident, it probably would have been smarter to do his story after the results were in on the entire Make A Difference Day activities -- not the day before. The thought that your paper thought it was headline material really pointedly shows your newspaper's desire for more retribution for the mayor. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of all the volunteers working hard to Make A Difference, and at your newspaper's reputation.

Steve Gillis

Wheaton