March 25, 2015 Voice Your Opinions! Letters to the editor make a difference. You can send a letter of up to 200 words (shorter letters are more likely to be accepted) to the Alaska Dispatch News by email (letters@alaskadispatch.com); or by fax or mail (call them at 257-4308). Send letters to the Anchorage Press via e-mail editor@anchoragepress.com or by mail to 540 E. Fifth Ave, Anchorage, 99501. Feel free to call us if you need factual information to help you write a letter. Contact the Governor. The Governor can be reached at 269-7450; or www.alaska.gov. Contact us. My office can be reached at: 733 W. 4th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99501; by phone: 269-0106; visit my website at http://gara.akdemocrats.org; or email: Rep.Les.Gara@akleg.gov

Dear Neighbors:

First, I get to gripe.  Since when do you open a fortune cookie and get a medical warning?!?!?!  Isn't that a "Warning cookie"?  Here's what I got last night - I guess punishment for not cooking at home.  Let me just say, I will not eat another fortune cookie at this restaurant.

Now, to make those of you who are chronic procrastinators some money - if that's OK.  And to let you know why I donated some of my PFD through the PFD donation site, Pick. Click.Give, to a very effective local non-profit, Facing Foster Care in Alaska.  

While Rep. Hawker has a bill that would allow state government to start spending the Permanent Fund's principal (which is currently prohibited by the Constitution), this year's Dividend is likely to be about $2,000.  Some of you don't need it.  Some need it for clothing and food for your families.  We'll talk about that another day.

The application deadline for the PFD is Tuesday, March 31! You can apply online at pfd.alaska.gov/home/index. If you prefer to file a paper application, there is probably a distribution center near you! To find a distribution center near you, visit pfd.alaska.gov/ApplicationSearch/index, or call (907) 269-0370 (Anchorage), (907) 451-2820 (Fairbanks), or (907) 465-2326 (Juneau).  They may know of a nearby place where you can pick up a paper application apart from a PFD Office.

You may, of course, donate all or part of your Dividend to a non-profit on the PFD application website under a law we passed a few years ago.  Just look for the “Pick. Click. Give.” prompt at the end of the on-line application process.  I donate some of my dividend to one of the most effective non-profits I've ever seen - Facing Foster Care in Alaska.  This group does amazing things. 

They work with us on the effort we started to get laptops to Foster youth who have little. 

They organize quarterly peer retreats, which have helped hundreds of youth learn how to get past the speed humps in their lives, learn about needed education and job training resources, and to meet other youth with whom they can share their experiences with.  I go to most of these and can tell you they are very valuable.

They train social workers, so the state knows how the system is working from a youth's perspective, and how to improve the foster care system from a youth's perspective.

And they have very little overhead.  There are many non-profits on the Pick. Click. Give. list that do great work.  If you can afford it, I hope you'll consider helping one of them.

That's all for now.  And if you know of a good Chinese restaurant in Juneau that has cookies with better fortunes in them, let me know.

My Best,