A show of charity for betrayal

A show of charity for betrayal

In Jacksonville, North Carolina a community has rallied to raise charity funds for a man who was gravely injured on a downtown construction site. White Christians are the most charitable men and women to be seen the world over and in keeping with this tradition the men and women of Onslow County have offered donations for medical care. With the Onslow County Sheriffs department leading the fund raising effort and accepting charity donations from residents, there is only one problem-- the injured man is a Honduran national on a work visa. The Onlsow County Sheriffs department sponsored a “Love Donation” to help pay for medical expenses for Liandeo Medina Molina who fell from a downtown construction site. During the Christmas season with so many Jacksonville residents having their own financial difficulties or inability to pay for health care, there are many residents who resent the Sheriffs willingness to put the interests of a foreign worker before those of Jacksonville residents. The solicitation for charity donations was seen in the areas only daily newspaper and posted as a flier in the Onslow County Sheriffs office, Onslow County Courthouse and downtown complex. The issue that troubles Jacksonville residents is how swiftly and equally unthinking that the Onslow County Sheriff's department rushed to collect charity donations for a man that was not from the community, and not an American. Molina's employer could not be contacted for comment. The Onslow County Sheriff's office would not comment after repeated requests for information. The Jacksonville City Attorney, John Carter confirmed that this was organized solely by the Sheriffs Department and that to his knowledge the City of Jacksonville has not sponsored charity fund raisers for anyone. Repeated requests for information from the Onslow County Sheriff's office were not returned, and have left many questions unanswered and gives no confidence or assurance that the funds will be released in a responsible way. For Jacksonville residents the most important question on their minds is why has the Sheriff's office sponsored a Honduran national for a charity drive, and how the Sheriff's office plans to release the charitable donations at the end of the fund drive. While all of these questions remain unanswered, the funds must either be spent or returned to the donors. With no clear goal in mind for how the charitable donations are to be spent, who the funds will be released to, or a goal of what to spend the charitable donations on, Molina has succumbed to the severity of his injuries and died at Pitt County Memorial Hospital on December 14th. The Onslow County Sheriff's office responded to a tragedy with a knee-jerk reaction and has done nothing more than subsidize emergency medical care for a foreign national. The real tragedy in this case is not of a man that died. The real tragedy is that the Onslow County Sheriff's department is more concerned for the health and welfare of a foreign national than for the taxpaying Americans who pay the Sheriff's salary. With the first known instance of the Onslow County government sponsoring a charity fund drive for health care, it has surprised and maddened area residents. While area residents reel from this insult, the Onslow County Sheriff's department is still not realizing the true potential to help those who matter most-- Americans.