Texas bullion; organs for veterans; cancer awareness; helping kids succeed

Texas bullion

So state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione wants to create a Texas Bullion Depository at a “secure and stable site” that is “economically advantageous.” (See: “State’s plan to create gold depository still needs polishing,” Sunday, Sept. 6)

He also wants to help people who own gold and silver, but don’t know what to do with it.

May I offer a few suggestions?

Keep the bullion at Fort Knox; it’s a stable and secure site and, as a bonus, eliminates the need to create another level of state bureaucracy.

(Outsourcing! Always a solid Republican policy.)

As for individual gold and silver owners, get a deposit box at a local bank. It will be handy when you need it and you will be supporting local businesses.

There! Problems solved, without the need for a task force wasting time figuring how to operate a depository.

— Roger Tuttle, Fort Worth

Organs for veterans

At the Veterans Affairs clinic in Fort Worth, I had an idea: Why give to a blood bank when I could give to the VA?

Then I thought of a veterans’ donor list.

If a veteran were to need my organs, I would rather give them to my brothers or sisters who served.

Please consider both ideas for the men and women who severed this country.

— Mark Hines, Fort Worth

Cancer awareness

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Ovarian cancer has affected my life twice. It took a dear friend 15 years ago, and even knowing the whispering symptoms, I missed the signals my body was sending.

I was busy, I did not press the issues with my doctors. At 64, I was diagnosed in May with stage 3 ovarian cancer.

Every woman is at risk of developing ovarian cancer, and each year one out of 75 women will be diagnosed.

There is no early detection test, but there are factors that increase or decrease a woman’s risk.

I hope every woman will take a few minutes to educate herself.

— Sherry Blackshear, Grapevine

Helping kids succeed

We all have a vested interest in seeing Texas children succeed to become better future job applicants, parents, educators and community citizens.

With sources like Education Week giving Texas a mediocre grade (C-) among state education systems, immediate improvement is paramount.

At Fortress Youth Development Center, a southeast Fort Worth nonprofit aimed at helping at-risk children break the cycle of generational poverty, we instituted a program to invest time in our families through home visits, parent support groups, monthly family events and parenting classes.

The program has immediately improved communication and helped us better tailor our resources to children’s needs. We feel our program is a model.

— Terri Henson, Fortress Youth Development Center, Fort Worth

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Texas bullion; organs for veterans; cancer awareness; helping kids succeed."