Good for goodness sake

They did it again. Aided by donors big and small, the intrepid Santa Claus Fund volunteers for the 44th consecutive year will make it possible for more than 625 local children to experience joy on Christmas morning.

It wasn’t easy in 2011. The volunteers, working under the auspices of the Bath and Brunswick Elks lodges, had to scramble this fall to relocate their North Pole Annex. Access Self Storage in Topsham generously donated space, which the volunteers converted into a local outpost of Santa’s workshop for almost four weeks.

After adapting the site for their special mission, the volunteers prepared individual gift packages for almost 600 local children whose parents and guardians sought help this Christmas season.

The task proved daunting, as the number of requests for help jumped by nearly 150 this year. The onset of winter and holiday expectations fueled by our acquisitive culture combine to intensify the pain that a relentlessly harsh economy exacts on children. Some families who donated to the fund in the past found themselves in need this year.

Despite all those challenges, the Santa Claus Fund found ways to make the holiday season brighter for hundreds of local children. It’s wonderful, but unlike in the movies, no holiday magic is involved. This happy ending results from an enormous outpouring of generosity from a kind-hearted band of volunteers and the community their efforts inspire.

It’s not too late to help.

Send donations — and thank- you notes — to the Santa Claus Fund Inc., P.O. Box 278, Brunswick, ME 04011.

What child is this?

A disconnect of biblical proportions marks the way the United States, dubbed a “Christian nation” by many, will celebrate Christmas 2011.

As Christians honor the birth of a disenfranchised child who devoted his life to defending the dispossessed, federal and state political leaders seem content to ignore the growing number of people imperiled by their inaction and willingness to accept the inhumane consequences of their endless power struggles.

Christ would not allow unemployed, elderly, sick people and children to be marginalized in the name of balancing budgets or advancing agendas. From all reports, King Herod would.

Plan not to plan

Deputy Finance Commissioner David Emery updated legislators last week on the LePage administration’s efforts to eliminate the State Planning Office.

Elements of the proposal — such as shifting oversight of waste management and recycling to the Department of Environmental Protection and putting the Department of Conservation in charge of all land-use planning — make sense.

However, some lawmakers voiced concern that scrapping the Planning Office as the administration proposes would consolidate too much power in an executive branch ill-equipped to manage it. Given that Emery unveiled the Planning Office execution order on the same day that analysts cited the LePage administration’s poor planning as a major contributor to the DHHS budget hole, those fears have merit.