Needy Families

Caroline Krongard unscrewed the top of a tube of glitter glue and dabbed globs onto a wooden ornament. "This is a present for people I don't know, who don't have any ornaments," the 5-year-old Glyndon resident said. "I hope the ornaments I make will be their favorite ones." Caroline was one of more than 150 people who gathered this week at St. Thomas Church in Owings Mills to wrap presents, sort food and make decorations for charity organizations in the area. While many churches have a program that benefits the needy during the holidays, St. Thomas, an Episcopal congregation, runs an array of projects - food drives, coat drives, adopt-a-family initiatives - that help several organizations, ranging from school libraries to shelters for homeless women.

Carroll County pupils have already started getting into the giving spirit of the holidays. Food, clothes and toy drives are as big a part of the school day as math and history lessons. "The kids mostly bring food in directly off the bus to a box in the front hallway," said Ann Horner, Mount Airy Elementary School's guidance counselor who is spearheading the annual Mount Airy Jaycees food drive. "It's a school community [effort], and we all pitch in," Horner said. "[Mount Airy] is a very good and giving community and we like to keep encouraging that.

One in a series of occasional stories highlighting people in the Baltimore area who exemplify the "Spirit of Sharing," The Sun's annual holiday campaign. At Havre de Grace Elementary School, 8-year-old Carol wants a baby doll that giggles. Jacob, 6, hopes for books about sharks and dinosaurs. Asia, 5, wants a toy ATM and kitchen play set. And while 7-year-old Albert and his sister Tomasina, 13, would like toys, they would really love a dresser for their room. In this waterfront town in Harford County, hundreds of holiday requests like these have been answered over the years not by Santa, but by someone mightier.

The federal government awarded Maryland $25 million yesterday for showing one of the nation's largest declines in births to unwed mothers. Part of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act provided for bonus payments to states that reduce out-of-wedlock births without increasing the abortion rate. Between 1999 and 2002, the most recent years for which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention birth statistics are available, the percentage of births to unwed mothers declined from 34.73 percent of all births to 34.62 percent, which amounts to 245 births out of about 146,000 for that period.

NEW YORK - Commitment isn't easy for guys - we all know that - but the Bush administration is taking the traditional male ambivalence about marriage to giddy new heights. On the one hand, it wants to ban gays from marrying, through a constitutional amendment that the Senate will vote on this week. On the other hand, it's been avidly promoting marriage among poor women - the straight ones, anyway. Opponents of gay marriage claim that there is some consistency here, in that gay marriages must be stopped before they undermine the straight ones.

WHILE CONGRESS procrastinates, many programs for the working poor wait in limbo. State by state, officials who run welfare reform programs are saying their ability to plan for the future is hampered as lawmakers let the clock run down to Election Day. No one expects lawmakers to push ahead on reauthorizing the nation's main welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), at least until voters choose the next president -- but they should. It takes a certain arrogance to put partisan politics before the needs of the poorest citizens, who have done as asked of them -- they've taken jobs that too often don't cover their bills, they've enrolled in training programs to gain new skills, and by and large they've embraced a work ethic instead of dawdling between welfare checks.

Dayton postmaster collecting gifts for needy families Al Payne, postmaster of Dayton, has adopted more than 500 needy families for the holidays and is collecting gifts, clothes, toys, food and money for them. Payne has been helping families during the holidays for 31 years. All donations go to the needy. His organization, Something for Everyone, accepts donations year-round. Donations not used for Christmas are kept in an account for families in crisis. Payne is working with 19 volunteers, who will spend tonight delivering donations to the families.

BOSTON - And now for some news from the stalled economy: Scorn is trending a wee bit up. Not that long ago, scorn and its handmaidens - disdain and neglect - were pretty much reserved for the welfare poor. The working poor, by comparison, were publicly praised as Americans who "played by the rules." They were folks who warranted a helping hand. But now the rules have officially changed. The line between the deserving and the undeserving poor has moved up a couple of notches on the socioeconomic scale.

Spending cuts would harm families in need Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is threatening to veto $135 million in new revenues, which could force devastating cutbacks in critical services for Marylanders ("Ehrlich seeks to rebuff tax rise," April 10). What are vulnerable families facing? A grandmother caring for her sick daughter's child qualifies for subsidized day care. She could be denied that service because of cuts in child care funding and forced to consider relinquishing her granddaughter to state custody.

The annual gift giveaway at St. John Roman Catholic parish in Westminster yesterday made Christmas wishes come true for more than 150 needy Carroll County families. Wrapped packages held the promise of toys, clothing and groceries. Among the gifts were bicycles, scooters, skates and video games. "My son asked for a bike, but I didn't think he would get one," said Cynthia, 42, loading a 10-speed into the trunk of her car with help from parish volunteers. "I am going to hide this somewhere and he will be so surprised."