I am writing to you because of the immense amount of homeless individuals and people in poverty. Homelessness is a much bigger problem than many people would think because there is a general misunderstanding of Aspen and the areas around it that it’s a perfect utopia. This, however, is not true because, as the facts show, there are over 200 homeless individuals in aspen alone and over 16,203 documented homeless individuals in Colorado, not to mention the masses of undocumented people.
Something has to be done, organizations like the Aspen Homeless Shelter, Lift-Up, Feed my Sheep and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless are all working hard to supply food and shelter/lodging for homeless people, but they can’t do it all without your help.
You can help by donating food at food drives, or donating clothes at clothing drives. I’m sure some of the people reading this have kids in middle school, and the Aspen Middle School has a hygiene drive that is accepting toothpaste, unused toothbrushes, soap, deodorant and bars of soap.
This drive was organized by four students, one of them being me. I’m a 13-year-old, skinny eighth-grader who just wants to do his part, and if I can do it, so can you.
Dylan Voorn
Aspen