I respectfully take exception to the insensitive letter to the editor (published) Nov.16 by West Seattle resident Ms. Debbie Loop, who states she will not shop in the West Seattle Junction this holiday because merchants chose not to accommodate her door-to-door request for the donated items she was seeking for a private parochial school auction.

Ms. Loop states she is "disappointed" at the number of "no's" she received, and then makes misguided statements about the lack of generosity of the businesses she visited.

The majority of merchants that reside in the Junction are independently owned, and over half of these shops are owned by women. Most of the merchants live in West Seattle and believe wholeheartedly in supporting the community.

Take Capers home furnishings, for example, owned by Lisa Myers for the past 20 years. Capers provides its employees with college subsidies; each evening remaining baked goods are transported to the mission; Lisa provides dozens of volunteer hours per month helping with Junction events such as our upcoming Santa Stroll, Tree Lighting and food drive. In 2005, Capers made cash and product donations to eight charities. They also offer customers a 3 percent rebate on merchandise if they donate the 3 percent to the school or charity of their choice. Capers will match that donation.

In Bloom Home and Garden shop, just celebrating two years in the Junction, has helped the following organizations with cash and cash equivalent gifts: American Heart Association, Friends of the Animals, Building Bridges in Tibet, Seattle Animal Shelter, Northwest Hope and Healing, West Seattle Garden Tour, Schmitz Park Elementary Dinner Auction, Gambia Health Education Liaison Project, Delridge Neighborhood Development Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Mercy Corps. The number of civic groups that owner Bonita Corliss volunteers to help are too many to name.

Nature to Nature provides year-round support to animal rights groups including a free in-store pet adoption service in conjunction with the West Seattle Friends of the Animals. Owners Bea and Cliff Marks also made significant donations to help rescue lost pets after Hurricane Katrina.

This is just a sample of how West Seattle Junction Merchants support the community. It's also an added benefit to shoppers who want to support a thriving West Seattle economy by patronizing local businesses.

During her visit to the Junction, Ms. Loop was apparently ill-prepared to approach businesses, and assumed that a simple request for an auction item would yield a sleigh-full of donated goods. In addition, approaching a business unannounced and expecting positive results is not good fundraising practice and is a display of poor etiquette. If Ms. Loop is disappointed, it should be with her inability to understand protocol in asking for support. Most of these business people are delighted to give, but as thoughtful professionals, they have procedures in place to manage the many deserving charities that routinely ask for support.

Angela Rae

Executive Director

West Seattle Junction Association