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Prisoners Raise Money for Local Charities

Friday March 13, 2015: 11:00am: Listening To: New Horizen By: Flyleaf

Hi everyone. How are you? I hope good. I have spoken in the past about fundraising & wanting to help people who need it & I think that part of the problem is that society thinks prisoners have no hearts, that we don’t care, but in fact we do. The vast majority of us want to help, want to do better, so our prison organization is holding another fund raiser in order to raise money for charity. I’ll find out in a few days who the profits are going to but they are having a bake sale & I for one just called by brother & asked for some extra money to buy some of this stuff. They are selling pies, whole 7” cakes, sticky buns, donuts, muffins, cheese cakes & brownies, all from a local supermarkets bakery. I’ve never had cheese cake or red velvet cake so I am definitely looking forward to those. I called my mom today and told her that I haven’t had a cake since 1997. I remember it so well. I was in a work release program & my Justine & her mom came to visit me and surprised me with a big cake from a bakery. The bigger surprise was that Justine’s mom, Joanne, she had Justine’s photo put on the cake, it was made into the icing and in 1997, I had never seen anything like that. That was my last time having cake. Since I have seen a zillion episodes of cake boss. I know it’s done quite often but back then, it was a surprise. Anyway, I only have 30$ to spend so I think I’ll go with the red velvet cake, strawberry cheese cake, and the banana nut mega muffins. Won’t get my order until May but I am definitely looking forward to it.

Most of the prisons in PA have inmate organizations that sell stuff to raise money, then that money is donated to charity. Last year at Huntingdon I believe we raised about $500 (at our annual run-a-thon event), for a local kids youth soccer club. There’s not a lot of money in prison so I guess it’s more like our families are the ones donating to the charities but the important thing is that someone in need is getting some help. And from prisoners nonetheless.

I know that many years ago, let’s go back to the early 1990’s and before, prisoners in PA serving a life sentence rarely did life. So many were paroled or given commutation for their good behavior and it all changed with the prisoner known as Mudman. He was the one who got out & went on to kill someone else in NJ, only to be murdered himself in a prison fight. Can anyone tell my why Pennsylvania has the 2nd highest number of prisoners serving life without parole out of every state in this country? 52 states and PA is #2. Out of 52 states, PA is 1 of only 6 that denies lifers a chance at parole. I don’t have all the answers but you can check out “Decarcerate PA” on Facebook. They have a lot of great ideas, but no one in our government seems to be listening. They say that over 50% of all prisoners have some sort of mental illness, but when you break a rule in here, the average prisoner gets locked in solitary confinement for 90 days. That’s 3 months locked in a cell, alone, with nothing. After awhile that begins to mess with your mind. I’ve been in the hole when men broke and committed suicide because they could not handle being in the hole. The Board of Pardons is a joke. I need 5 people to vote and say yes to being given another chance. That’s almost impossible. I’m all for punishment. You break a rule of law, there must be consequences, but when is enough, enough?

Let me quote Bret Grote, of the Abolitionist Law Center, “Such harsh sentences do nothing ot actually solve the problem of violence in our communities, remarking that “L.W.O.P. (life without parole) is a pillar of race & class based on mass incarceration. It does not serve the value of deterring crime. There is no compelling evidence whatsoever that increasing excessive sentence decreases crime. There is plenty of evidence however that L.W.O.P. sentences & mass incarceration permanently exclude people from participation in political, economic and social life in the country.”

You have men in here who want nothing but to help, but by keeping them here, they cannot have a chance to be a positive influence in their society. And let’s face it, the majority of all PA prisoners are from Philly or Pittsburgh.

I’m a prisoner, I do not claim to have any of the answers but there has to be better ways. Get involved, tell your local politicians that you have ideas. This state needs change. Spending 500+ million dollars on building a prison and cutting education is not the answer. Get involved with Decarcerate PA and see if you can help. Time for lunch so I must go in a few minutes. Can we forgive? Can we grant people another chance? Here’s a story for you; Allessandro Serenelli was 20 years old. He murdered an 11 year old child named Maria Goretti, because she refused his sexual advances. He stabbed her repeatedly. On her death bed, little Maria said she forgave him & wanted to see him in Heaven. When Alessandro was released from prison many years later, he went to Maria’s mother and asked for, & received, her forgiveness. He also attended Maria’s canonization in 1950. He went on to work in a monastery. Now that’s just a story of someone else’s life. But can we forgive? Take care, and God bless. I look forward to your responses. God bless, ciao.

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