Weekly readers of the Levittown Tribune will notice that one of our regular columns is missing from this week's paper. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints at Yours Ours Mine Community Center, because of the county budget cuts, Diane Shapiro who has been contributing the column The YOM Years- From Generation to Generation, has had to put a hold on the weekly column to focus on fund raising for the center.

While the loss of this column is a loss for the paper and for the readers because it provided a lot of insight into what programs YOM offers the community, this loss is nothing compared to what the loss of YOM would represent to Levittown.

As we have seen through Mrs. Shapiro's column, YOM offers a wide range of services for people of all ages and backgrounds. It also provides jobs for many members of the local community. If YOM has to close various programs, it signifies a loss of jobs to local residents as well as depriving the community of beneficial programs. If YOM has to shut its doors because it cannot get funding, that has an even greater implication to the community.

YOM needs assistance. If the center does not receive the additional funding that it needs, Levittown may suffer the consequences. Currently the efforts to restore the money from the county do not seem to have had much of an effect. Therefore, it is up to the community to help where it can. The food pantry in Hempstead was able to stay open because of the generosity of one person who realized the significance of what would occur if the food pantry closed and donated the money to keep it open. Imagine what the efforts of the entire Levittown community could do to help YOM, which is losing approximately $200,000 in funding.

If the entire community worked together then maybe the programs at YOM could be saved. While many people may not have the financial resources to help YOM, maybe residents could explore other ideas to find additional funds. If you have any ideas or can help YOM, contact the community center and let them know that you are willing to pitch in to assist an agency that has assisted so many people within the community.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Diane Shapiro for doing such a fantastic job with The YOM Years. She sent the column in, before deadline, every single week and many readers looked forward to seeing which program would be spotlighted. Once again, it is a loss to the paper but hopefully just a temporary one. Don't let the loss to the community be any greater.