Letter: Del Webb Corp. has a good side

Thursday, Feb. 8, 2001 | 10:14 a.m.

I recently read Susan Snyder's commentary on Del Webb's "boomer" survey and felt compelled to respond.

I am the director of a residential program for children here in Las Vegas. It is one of the few residential programs that serves families for no charge, opening the doors to poor but deserving children. We do this without any tax monies or government support.

How is this possible? Caring companies, like Del Webb, deeply support this community with little fanfare. Among the "7,600 plopped down" by Del Webb are homes donated to needy and often homeless kids. As our home was being built, I met many (often minority) workers who had gainful employment.

I don't know Ms. Snyder and we teach our kids to respect everyone and their rights to express their opinions. I'd like to express mine.

There is so much more to the Del Webb Corp. than its characterization as a "giant, money-grubbing, land-scarfing" business. I admire its support of the United Way, the Clark County School District, the Chambers of Commerce, the Lake Tahoe shoreline and the protection of Canadian geese and the Moapa Dace.

This company, like the Sun, simply meets the demand of local consumers. That is all many companies really do. Beyond that, Del Webb quietly cares for the people in our city that many of us look past.

Without the support of Del Webb, our progam would never have opened, our families would never have been served and I shudder to think where our kids would be.

That is the rest of the story ... and maybe the most important part.

LOU PALMA Executive director, Boys Hope/Girls Hope of Nevada