South Asians do offer community involvement This letter is in response to letters written by Beth Klee and Wilma Levine. I am disappointed and saddened by both of these letters and wish Ms. Klee and Ms. Levine had the facts prior to making judgments on the South Asian community in Edison. Most importantly, you can not make a stereotypical judgment on a whole community based on what a few people did or do not do. In regard to the Diwali function that was celebrated in some of the Edison schools. I was honored to be one of the coordinators of the Diwali program at one of the elementary schools. The students spent not a full day but 75 minutes of the school day at the program. We had over 60 volunteers including non-South Asians. We welcomed all parents of ethnic background to volunteer. The students made crafts, participated in a Diwali word search and bingo and enjoyed a play about "how honesty is the best policy." We were honored to have Superintendent of Schools Carol Toth and Mayor Jun Choi in attendance. Echoing their comments along with those of the principal, the teachers, and most of all the students, the Diwali program was wonderful because the students were excited and enjoyed the program. There are millions of South Asians in this country and Diwali is celebrated throughout this country in schools either on a small or large scale. Second, in regard to the Thanksgiving feast, at our elementary school South Asians contributed to the feast by food and monetary donations, as well as the set-up, cleanup and serving of food. In addition to celebrating Diwali, many South Asians celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. All these holidays share a similar connection, which is getting together with family and friends. Last, Ms. Levine mentioned that South Asians use the resources of the community but do not give back. Personally speaking as a South Asian, I am a vice president on the PTO, chairwoman of the Summer Reading Program and the box top coordinator. My husband and another South Asian man are assistant soccer coaches. There are many South Asians who are on PTO boards, chairpersons of committees, coaches, volunteers of PTO-sponsored events and assist in class parties. All of the PTO events bring volunteers from all ethnic backgrounds. This is what makes our town such a great place to live. Should South Asians volunteer more? Sure, but so should all Americans. We all have a vested interest in our children and in our town. Rina Nijhawan Edison