Arts Center Benefactor

Re “Kavli’s Arts Donation,” letter, July 19.

J. Wayne Frye is horribly off base in his comments about Fred Kavli’s treatment of his employees. My brother, who had been brain-damaged from birth, is evidence of that.

Kavlico Corp. participates in the Work Training Program, in which people with physical and mental deficiencies are coached to do productive work in assembly-line jobs where, due to the repetitive nature of the work, a more mentally-able person would not perform well. Prior to his enrollment in this program and subsequent employment at Kavlico, he was unemployed for five years despite constant efforts to seek work.

That “demeaning” $6-per-hour job (by the way, with medical benefits) Mr. Frye describes has meant that my brother has become a productive member of society with noticeable improvement in his self-respect gained from what to him is a rewarding position.

In the United States no one has to work for $6 per hour or be a victim of the “evil rich”--all one has to do is work hard, seek and take advantage of opportunities for education and training, and take advantage of the fact that the economic system enables people such as Mr. Kavli to start a business with nothing and eventually build companies that become major employers and contributors to the community.

FRANK STRAZZULLA,Moorpark