JEREMY DUDA - Daily Herald | Posted: Friday, May 4, 2007 11:00 pm
There are limits to what government can do to help people. That's why Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert is glad organizations like the Utah Elks Association are there to lend a hand.
"Government can't do it all," Herbert told the Utah Ladies of Elks on Friday at the organization's annual convention in Provo. "You do a lot better job of giving a service.
"On behalf of Gov. Huntsman and myself, let me say we appreciate what you're doing."
For one thing, Herbert said, the bigger the government, the less money reaches those in need.
The lieutenant governor told a story about a boy who wrote a letter to God asking for $100 for a new bicycle. The post office, realizing it couldn't sent the letter to heaven, forwarded it to the White House instead. Touched by the boy's letter, the president decided to send him $5.
When the boy wrote a thank-you letter to God, Herbert said, he mentioned that the federal government took 95 percent.
"If somebody needs a dollar because they're down on their luck right now, you give them a dollar and guess whatfi They get the whole buck!" Herbert said. "You go through Washington, D.C. and something gets strained out."
At its annual convention, the Elks set goals for the next year, including raising more money for charity programs, such as scholarships, drug awareness and Camp Wapiti, a program that sends medically disadvantaged kids to summer camp.
"Basically, our goals are charity," said Don Smith, the Utah Elks incoming president. "We are here to provide a service to people that don't have the things that other people have."
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D3.