The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Letter to the editor,

I feel the need to respond to last week’s letter that spoke on the lack of unity in our society. In the past 17 days since multiple communities were hit by the flood of 2020, I have witnessed nothing but unity. Not just in our town of Waitsburg, but in multiple surrounding communities. I personally witnessed people putting aside different beliefs, faith, resentments, personalities, cultures, economic class and backgrounds to be a helping hand for someone in need. One could argue that two weeks doesn’t prove anything, but I believe that it does. A person just doesn’t wake up one day and say “I think I’ll do something so outside of my character today and learn as I go.” No, this showed me that unity is part of the fabric and character of Waitsburg. In crisis we saw what we are made of. We didn’t learn how to come together in February 2020, we always had it within us, and it didn’t just stop within our city limits. There were people driving from as far as Lewiston, Richland, Pendleton, and beyond just to lend a helping hand. Those with no money in their bank account were willing to come and dig out homes, and not accept any money for it. Those who didn’t have much food on their table at home came into our church to feed the volunteers and families that were displaced. A family who had just lost their home to the raging waters asked how they could help someone else. A man who was in the process of losing seven acres of his land in Dayton drove to Waitsburg every day to help wherever he could. The Flood Relief committee wasn’t comprised of just members from our church. It was a group from our town coming together for the greater need. Coming together in unity. Gandhi once said, “unity, to be real, must stand the severest strain without breaking.” That is community. That is Waitsburg. And I see it everyday.

Pastor Matthew Wyatt

Waitsburg Christian Church