Letters: Readers discuss a dose of humanity for NY from Kansas and paying our heroes

Beyond geography

I am bicoastal, spending the first two decades of life in the San Francisco Bay Area and the last three in New York, but my ancestry runs deep in northeastern Kansas. Several of my ancestors were post-Civil War era farmers in Leavenworth and Johnson counties.

Although I never lived there, I visited relatives in Kansas City as a child and later for business as an adult.

When I heard my governor, Andrew Cuomo, read a letter from retired northeastern Kansas farmers Dennis and Sharon Ruhnke to thank them for sending an unused N95 mask for a New York nurse or doctor, it brought tears to my eyes. (April 24, KansasCity.com, “Retired Kansas farmer donates mask to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo with this heartfelt letter”)

We are united as hardworking and caring Americans. I wish I could express my appreciation to the Ruhnkes directly.

- Kathleen Wuerth Sonnabend, Saratoga Springs, New York

Hazard pay

There have been stories about many “heroes” in these pandemic times: nurses, hospital workers, grocery store cashiers and stockers, drive-thru and food delivery workers.

And what do most of them have in common? Low-paying jobs with no insurance.

I hope these important workers will receive more benefits and consideration beyond applause when this is over and Instacart doesn’t need them anymore.

- Joanne Soraya, Platte City