Help your neighbors
Area Interfaith Outreach food pantry and emergency assistance is facing a sharp rise in the numbers of families coming for help from all over Knox County. Formerly we served about 30 families per day; now it’s over 50. Clients tell us they have to choose: Heat or medicine, rent or food.
What put people in this hard place? Job loss, of course. Two incomes become one, or none. Illness, accidents, divorce. But it’s the quality of the jobs, too. A just-out Hunger Report says 38 percent of people using food pantries in Maine earn less than $10,000 per year; 40 percent less than $20,000. Most of our people were formerly self supporting and are shocked that this has happened to them.
At AIO we are in crisis. Last year in October, we gave vouchers to 117 families totaling $16,600 — $11,400 of that for heat. This October, it was $28,500 to 501 families — $15,450 for heat. Now, in mid-November, we aren’t sure our money will last to the end of the month. We will still give food, but we don’t deficit spend so other help must stop.
Now would be an excellent time for everyone who knows he’ll have heat, who knows she’ll eat well, to give themselves the gift of knowing they’ve helped less lucky neighbors.
Sherry Cobb
President
Area Interfaith Outreach (AIO)
Rockland
Misleading on deportation
The Washington Post’s Oct. 28 editorial, a portion of which was included in the BDN, parrots the misleading narrative from the Obama administration, claiming that President Barack Obama deported more illegal immigrants in 5½ years than former President George W. Bush did in eight years.
But the Obama administration has been getting less aggressive with deportations. A September 12th Washington Post blog, under the title “The quiet fall in deportations” reports that Obama’s deportations are down 20 percent this year from last year’s numbers. That’s the lowest number of deportations since 2007. And the Los Angeles Times, going straight to government data, in April reported 40 percent fewer interior deportations in 2013 than in 2009.
So, how can the Obama administration claim that it’s tough on enforcement (while keeping a straight face)? For the first time ever, the administration began counting removals from the country at or near the border as “deportations.” Quoting the L.A. Times: “The shift in who gets tallied helped the administration look tough in its early years.”
Contrary to Republican rhetoric, the border is not the real issue. No amount of money or technology thrown at the border will succeed. The only way to stop illegal migration in its tracks is by enacting strict workplace enforcement, punishing unscrupulous employers who knowingly hire illegal labor. Cutting off the employment magnet would provide a level playing field for all employers and would raise wages for all legal workers, domestic or foreign born.
If the president and congressional leaders really want to cooperate on meaningful legislation, workplace enforcement would be a great place to start.
Ken Christian
Holden
Keeping warm
I would like to thank you for the Oct. 26 article “Rockland Non-Profit Helps Keep Mainers Warm,” which described a very creative program involving weatherization. The result of following up this information is that our town will become a satellite for this program and help keep Mainers warm.
Tony Ferrara
Brooksville
Godless in Maine
In response to the article by the Huffington Post asking if Maine is becoming “Godless,” the answer is simple. We were once a Christian population, easily proven by the abundance of churches in every city and town across our state. But then a monumental change occurred: God was removed from our public schools. As generations have passed, the significance of God as the center of our lives diminished.
Today, people put themselves as their central focus. It’s all about them. The reverence for our Lord has been replaced with the arrogance of self. Christianity, which is in fact a way of life, is today called a “religion” grouped together with everything from idolatry to atheism. As a populace, we once knew the significance and great importance of faith in God. The sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, has become just a story instead of the historical truth.
Yes, Maine is largely Godless, it’s evident in our leaders, our teachers, our doctors, our lawyers, our media, our laws, our crime rates, our drug abuse, abortions, alcoholism, domestic violence, and worst of all, our apathy. Today, Mainers live, as do their counterparts across our nation, as though there are no consequences, no redemption necessary. A life built without the foundation of God and His law is a life built on sand. Even the strongest sand castle falls every time the tide comes in.
Beth Weirich
Glenburn
Bear cleanup
Now that the election is over, let’s ponder this question: After Maine hunters participate in a day-long bear hunt, who is going to pick up all the trash, buckets, barrels and plastic left behind in our beautiful Maine woods?
Vivian Long
Caribou
UMA fills Onward void
I am writing in reference to Nell Gluckman’s article of Nov. 11 on the closing of the University of Maine’s Onward Program, and to confirm that the mission of the Onward Program is indeed covered through the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) and its Bangor campus.
For the last 50 years, UMA has brought high-quality educational programing to place-committed, traditional and non-traditional students throughout the state. Through its two campuses and eight University College centers, UMA delivers instruction in many modes from face-to-face classes, to hybrid courses, to online and ITV courses, so that students are able to schedule classes around work and family commitments. UMA’s highly trained and dedicated staff of student support professionals offers a wide array of services from developmental studies, to tutoring, to academic and financial advising to all students to ensure that each one has the opportunity to successfully achieve their educational goals.
Many of our programs, such as nursing, dental health, mental health and human services, veterinary technician, aviation, and architecture provide students with practical knowledge and skills that prepare them for certification and licensure in their fields and for rewarding professional careers. Many UMA graduates also go on to successfully complete graduate level programs in their disciplines.
“Stay Close, Go Far” is more than a tagline for UMA faculty and staff. It is a commitment to student success.
Pamela M. Proulx-Curry
Bangor Campus Dean
Bangor