In the &8220;Your Comments&8221; portion of the Albert Lea Tribune on Thursday was a letter from former Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber Director Bob McCoy, who now lives in Altoona, Wis.

Bob stated that the Albert Lea Tribune was not a worthy recipient of the Albert Lea Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce&8217;s annual Business of the Year Award.

His reasoning is that other businesses volunteer and help promote our community because they want to and that the Tribune only does it to attract advertising revenue.

Bob, I neither know you nor have I met you, but you could not be more dead wrong about the Tribune.

Our team is made up of the most caring group of individuals that I have ever met! We donate not only our time, money and effort to different causes, but we also choose to use our newspaper to shine light on the many great causes that this area has.

You say that our job is to report the news and community events. You wrote, &8220;What they do is what they get paid for.&8221;

Shame on you and your small thinking if you think a paycheck is the reason a community newspaper exists.

Our staff rallies behind United Way, Relay for Life, Salvation Army, local fundraisers and many other great causes not because of advertising dollars, but because of heart. We care about this community.

I normally stand by when people take shots at the Albert Lea Tribune because if they are mad at us and want to blame us for things, then I think, hey at least they are leaving someone else alone.

I often have spoken to our staff that we have big shoulders and I would rather have someone mad at us than to blame or be mad at family members, coworkers or friends.

I decided that this time I will not stand by as you, Bob McCoy &8212; a person who does not live in our great area, does not know my fantastic team, and does not realize that volunteering and helping comes from the heart and not from a job &8212; criticizes our purpose in the way we operate.

Bob, I do not know you, but I am glad that you have moved on from our area because you would not fit in anymore. Albert Lea is about good people, positive thinking and striving to do better.

The city has changed.

Bob, I invite you to come to the Albert Lea Tribune and meet with our staff, look into their eyes, see what kind of people they are and what they accomplish every day and then and only then should you judge the selection committee and our heart.

Scott Schmeltzer is the publisher of the Albert Lea Tribune.