Re: Adopt-A-Steet Program

["Lois Melina" <lmelina@moscow.com>]

Dear visionaries and The City of Moscow,

Nationally, the adoption community is very much opposed to these "adopt-a"
programs. The idea of "adopting" a street in Moscow as a way to "clean up
the litter" is a particularly offensive concept. Imagine the message this
sends to adopted children who already wonder if they were rejected by their
biologic families because they weren't good enough, weren't loveable, or
were too much trouble? If you "adopt" a puppy from the pound and then have
to give the dog away because your new apartment won't let you have a dog, or
you have to have it put down because the dog bites someone, the message
children get is that you are adopted until it isn't convenient or you don't
behave well.

As an adult,  I can differentiate between the emotional appeal of these
kinds of campaigns and the actual adoption of children. Children, however,
are more concrete.

There are a lot of ways to encourage a community to get involved in rescuing
puppes, cleaning up litter, etc. without comparing it to the adoption of a
child.

Years ago the Moscow-Latah Public Library launched an
"adopt-a-battered-book" program to get money to repair some of its books.
When I brought these issues to the attention of Lori Keenan she immediately
changed the name of the program. I congratulate Lori for her sensitivity and
I hope the city will follow her example.

Lois Melina


-----Original Message-----
From: Relene Johnson <relene@turbonet.com>
To: Vision 2020 <vision2020@moscow.com>
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2000 9:53 AM
Subject: Adopt-A-Steet Program


>Visionaries:
>
>The City of Moscow recently launched it's new Adopt-A-Street Program.
>This program, jointly administered by the City of Moscow and Latah
>Sanitation, Inc./Moscow Recycling (LSI/MR), was developed to help combat
>litter on streets throughout the City.
>
>The program works similar to the Adopt-A-Highway Program in that once a
>section of street is adopted, the adopter agrees to clean litter from
>the street as needed, but at least two times per year for a period of
>two years.  In exchange for the adopter's efforts, a sign recognizing
>the adopter will be placed on the street.  The adopter will also be
>mentioned in educational materials published by the City and LSI/MR's
>Waste Reduction Education Program.
>
>To receive an information packet, please contact LSI/MR by phone at
>882-0590 or by email at MoscowRecycling@turbonet.com.
>
>Relene Johnson, Vice President
>Latah Sanitation, Inc./Moscow Recycling
>
>