Bush's Faith-based Initiative You Didn't Hear About

Emerging post-holidays from the pile of stories virtually ignored by America’s media, comes the Bush version of Dickens.

It seems George and Laura don’t just ask others to help faith-based groups, they pitch in themselves, as kids who’d gathered for Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program found out on a Monday afternoon in Alexandria, Va., this past December.

Prison Fellowship was founded by Chuck Colson, and its Angel Tree program makes sure children of prisoners receive presents during the holidays.

The program has many volunteers, but they aren’t usually accompanied by a crowd of more than 40 reporters, as the president and first lady were when they arrived at the Shiloh Baptist Church.

Colson, a former member of the Nixon administration who spent some time in the hoosegow himself before becoming a Christian, said: "I remember from my days with President Nixon what photo opportunities are: Get the picture and leave. So I thought the Bushes would shortly depart, but they didn’t. They stayed long after the cameras were gone."

After the press popped their flashbulbs, scribbled their notes and left, Mr. and Mrs. Bush greeted each child individually, handing out the 40 presents they’d brought with them and speaking to Hispanic children in Spanish – another tidbit not mentioned in the few places the story got reported.

"This is a program in which people who love you a lot want you to have a merry Christmas," Bush told the kids. "Our attitude is ... that we change America one heart and one soul at a time; that everybody matters, everybody counts; that every child has got a hopeful and bright future; and each of us has a responsibility of loving that child with all our heart and all our soul.

"And it's important that all of us during this ... joyous time, this holiday, recognize that probably the greatest gift you can possibly give is to love a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself."

Shiloh's pastor, Lee Earl, was honored by the first President Bush as one of 10,000 Points of Light.

Colson offered his own explanation as to why the 40-some members of the press virtually refused to report the event: "The president is a Christian who really cares for ‘the least of these,’ who does this not for photo ops, but because he’s genuine. That is something that his detractors in the media simply can’t handle. Conservatives caring for the poor? Never. It dashes the stereotypes."

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