A note and photo from Buel Porter’s great-grandson
I wanted to reach out in regards to this article that your Editor Patti Brown wrote.
My name is Cody Porter and I am Buel Porter’s great-grandson. My mother (Karla Porter, daughter of the late Robert Porter) sent me the article last night and it brought a very big smile to my face, knowing that we still have such a cherished family legacy in Estes Park. It makes me very proud of my family history and to learn more about them.
I have attached a photo of my great grandfather painting one of the Christmas displays in your article, and wanted to share it in case you wanted to attach it to your article as a piece of history.
Thank you for all that you do for Estes Park!
Cody Porter, Land of Lakes, Fla.
A follow up on the high cost of medical treatment and the kindness of strangers
In December, I bewailed the high cost of medical treatment. My niece had recently incurred thousands of dollars in debt when her infant son received brief but effective emergency treatment at an out-of-network hospital.
On Christmas Eve, I went to a service at the First Congregational Church in Boulder. The offering was to be split between the church soup kitchen and a program called Undue Medical Debt.
According to the church bulletin: “More than 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt. Undue Medical Debt leverages donations to buy large bundled debt at steep discounts, providing immediate relief to financially vulnerable families. This means your donation relieves about 100 times its value in medical debt. Imagine people across the country receiving letters notifying them that their debt has been erased.”
Of course, this wonderful service does not address the root of the problem, the poor health policies and systems in place, but it makes a vital difference to the people it reaches. It gives hope.
Elisabeth Sherwin — Allenspark