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OPINION: Time to help shareholders in need

February 17th 2:54 pm | Calvin Schaeffer Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Greetings. I felt compelled enough to write this letter after listening to and speaking with numerous people of the NANA region. I hope this very urgent matter will be heard and gain some attention. I also pray that no one will address this issue as another bad hand-out needed. We are well into 2012 and it is no secret that everyone in the NANA region has been suffering from the effects of frigidly cold temperatures. Today in Kotzebue it is perhaps the coldest day we have seen yet, as it is -45 degrees here and colder than -50 in most of the villages.

What is it going to take to get the attention of our leaders? I cannot sit back and pretend to not notice the many people that I encounter on my way to work every morning — especially the ones I see dragging pallets or other pieces of scrap wood to their homes, to try to keep them and their families warm. Many are poorly dressed — using only jackets, tennis shoes, and they painfully hang their heads in embarrassment — and these are just the Kotzebue residents that I have been witnessing — I would hate to see what our neighboring village residents are having to do to stay warm. Our poor shareholders are suffering and how can we fail to not take notice or action for the midnight runs in search of food, pallets, and stove oil? I know that I have seen an increase in my electric and heating fuel bills this winter and I too have been having to monopolize or prioritize the funds that I have coming in to sustain the livelihood of my family's well-being. And the sad thing is — winter is not over yet!

My point is, in the past CITGO has helped Maniilaq reward households with a seventy-five gallon heating fuel credit for the region. I recommend NANA strongly consider doing something similar for its shareholders. Last year there was an average of 1,500 households in the region that participated in the program. This came out to an estimated amount of $855,000 at seventy five gallons per household. I feel this number would be smaller, considering NANA would be only giving it to the shareholder households. It would be very simple to go over to Maniilaq and duplicate a similar program for our shareholders.

Please take great consideration in this letter, and I know that shareholders will appreciate your help, especially with how proud we are of our billion dollar corporation.

Sincerely,

Calvin Schaeffer - NANA shareholder

 


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