When I see the little ribbon stickers on cars, I always wonder if the people who bought them have actually done anything to support our troops. The stickers I’ve seen range in price from $2.34 at Walgreens to $5 a sticker from the women who’ve managed to combine easy patriotism and scalping into a one-car operation just outside of the Wal-Mart parking lot. How much of the money “raised” by these efforts goes to “support” the troops? Well, none. I don’t even know for sure that the stickers are made in America (although I’ll be honest; I haven’t checked). I’m sure the intentions are well-placed, but I can’t think of any way a sticker on a car can help someone who has a chance of being shot – especially when there are ways to support the troops, even if those ways go unnoticed by the public.

My first hope is that the people who have them at least matched whatever money they’ve spent on stickers by donating much-needed cash to VA hospitals. They are always underfunded and always have new patients from present and past military theaters arriving in need of help. Imagine if every $2 that had been spent on stickers had been used to fund needed programs at a VA hospital. If cash donations aren’t an option, there’s always the possibility of donating your time. Either one is a direct contribution with a chance for measurable results if enough people were to do it.

If someone really needs public recognition of his good deed, now would be a great time to donate blood again. Reserves are low across the country and you get to wear the little sticker all day. Remember the outpouring of effort people made or tried to make after Sept. 11, 2001? Remember that the only call to service and sacrifice that our current administration could muster was to “keep shopping or the terrorists win”? We have wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan in the thousands who are coming home and need help. There are so many people who would be willing to help if someone pointed them in a different direction, if someone would just ask. So I’m asking: Are charity and patriotism what you’re willing to do when no one is watching, or only things you stick to the back of your car for others to see?

Kevin Healy

NIU alumnus