Patch Takes: Your Comments

Here's a quick round-up of what Patch readers have said recently in the comments sections of our articles:

• I am so impressed with the work of Earth Sangha, This group maintains a nursery of native plants and uses them to restore critical areas of public land from which invasive species have been removed. -Patricia Kobor

• Friends of Dyke Marsh (FODM) --- a volunteer group dedicated to preserving and enhancing the only remaining substantial freshwater tidal marsh in the Washington DC capital area. FODM volunteers sponsor many activities including birdwalks (every Sunday morning), other nature walks and talks of flora & fauna, special events such as the raptors exhibit last weekend, quarterly membership meetings with presentations by subject experts, and other volunteer opportunities such as the weekly "Weed Warriors" who help the National Park Service control the invasive plants. www.fodm.org. -Greg Cider

• LINK is partnering with Dranesville Elementary School to divert food from the dumpster to hungry families within our community. Dranesville students and staff set aside prepackaged food such as containers of milk that they had been throwing away. LINK volunteers pick up the food, taking it to the LINK pantry where they store it in refrigerators. Other LINK volunteers pack and deliver the food to families in need. The volunteers also give some of the food to the Foundation for Appropriate and Immediate Temporary Help (F.A.I.T.H.), which operates a drop-in food pantry on Center Street. LINK has been partnering for many years with local merchants such as Great Harvest, Chipotle, Safeway, Trader Joe’s, and Wegman’s to “rescue” perishable food that would otherwise end up in landfills. LINK will soon “glean” produce from the vendors when the Herndon Farmer’s Market opens in May. -Bob Ashdown

You can for a $500 donation here.

• If we're going to spend money on more manufactured housing units, maybe we could invest in something like these -- http://www.solardecathlon.gov/gallery_houses.html -- instead, and make the community a step toward a carbon neutral future? Efficient, and they look nice, too. -T Brown

• Crimes? There is a HUGE number of false and malicious 'suspicious person' reports called into the police across the region. The police are always dispatched to find the 'suspect' and the person who makes a complaint is almost never vetted. Shame on Patch for promoting such an outrageously unfair and possibly illegal system. -A.B.

• Do you think there aren't crimes in Fairfax County? What this offers is another way for people who are aware of crimes going on (possibly even family or friends of a criminal) to report them anonymously.  Also, sometimes there really are suspicious people. -Ann