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Lumpy letter won't hurt you, unless you're allergic to tea ACCESS' annual plea for money looks suspicious to some, who toss it or call cops By JONEL ALECCIA Sometimes, one nightmare begets another. Fund-raisers for ACCESS Inc. are struggling to reassure Jackson County residents that an annual direct-mail promotion should not be discarded for fear of anthrax. "It's the tea bag that has caused the problem," said Philip Yates, resource manager for the hunger relief agency. Last Friday, Yates and his staff mailed about 6,000 packets touting the annual "Take Out the Rolls" fund-raising event, which invites donors to pledge funds they'd normally spend on a nice meal. Included in each mailing was a tea bag, a small token of appreciation for contributors. Trouble is, a number of local residents, jittery from headlines about anthrax poisoning, decided the lumpy letter was suspicious. "I certainly know of three or five calls that have been concerned," Yates said. "They haven't even opened it and have thrown it in the garbage." Another half-dozen worried folks have contacted law enforcement authorities. Talk about a fund-raiser's nightmare. For the past six years, the event has raised about $25,000 toward filling the nearly 25,000 food boxes distributed in Jackson County last year, Yates said. Now, he believes the event could become an inadvertent victim of terrorism. "I want the public to know that all of this was in process before the anthrax scare became escalated," Yates said. "Given this situation this week, maybe we would have reconsidered it." Yates spent most of Tuesday trying to calm fears about the fund-raising letter. In it, donors are invited to a "nondinner" where they select appetizers, entrees, desserts and wine from a menu, but contribute the costs of the items toward hunger relief. This year's menu was designed by the McCully House in Jacksonville. The mailings are perfectly safe, Yates stressed. Each package has the return address for ACCESS Inc. on the envelope and a little graphic logo for the event that reads "Take Out the Rolls." "If anyone has any questions, they should call us," said Yates. "We will describe the envelope." Yates is philosophical about public fear of unusual packages. "In one way, I can really understand it," he said. Still, he'd hate to see public support for hunger relief be damaged by paranoia. Reach Yates at 774-4325 or ACCESS Inc. at 779-6691. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.