To the Editor: As former members of the Brattleboro Human Services Committee, we are writing to encourage all members of the Brattleboro community to read the detailed, informative report to the town, from the current members of the Committee, which appeared in the Feb. 5 issue of The Reformer.

Article VI, on this year's Annual Town Meeting Ballot, asks Brattleboro voters to choose one of five town funding options for local Human Service organizations.

We think that voting to eliminate or drastically reduce the town's share of funding of these organizations would be a short-sighted, major mistake, and would be detrimental to Brattleboro's well-being. During the time that we served on the committee, each one of us came to more deeply understand and appreciate what a critical role the non-profit organizations, whose funding requests we carefully reviewed, play in the healthy functioning of our community. They do so much with so little, and form a vital network, helping to meet basic human needs, and providing safety and well being to so many each year. We want to thank all of the non-profit leaders and staff who have been meeting with the Human Services Committee for the past 20 years, and who are doing their best to make our community a better place. We encourage you to vote in favor of our town continuing to help fund these organizations that play such an essential role in maintaining Brattleboro's vitality.

Ellen Martyn, Sara Longsmith, Emilie Kornheiser, Elizabeth Tannenbaum, Peter Fallion, Beth Kiendl, Doug Frantz

Brattleboro

Ann Darling

Easthampton, Mass.