Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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MIRA Foundation USA: Guide Dogs Bring Hope to Blind Children by SHANNON ANGRY Many children are faced with the challenge of loss of sight. This is a difficult condition for many human beings. All around you is darkness and heavy reliance on your four other senses is vital. Mercifully, there is a foundation that focuses on providing help to blind children. The MIRA Foundation USA, is a national non-profit organiza- tion that offers guide dogs, free of charge, to blind children. The foundation's mission is to provide targeted educational outreach to promote public awareness and services for support to the adult population and their families. Beth Daniels, executive director of the MIRA Foundation USA, says the foundations is going into its third year and has placed eight guide dogs with blind children so far. "Historically, guide dogs are not given to blind people until the age of 18," Daniels explains. "We are the only foundation that provides guide dogs for blind children between the ages of 11 and 17," Daniel explains. Guide dogs produce a social bridge for the children. The dogs allow for The Mira Foundation has discovered the best breed for their guide dogs is a mixture of Labrador and Bernese Mountain Dog, which creates the Labernese. more independence and freedom that they can't achieve with the use of a cane. A cane may be useful in some ways, but in no circumstance can it be compared to the better usage and stability of a guide dog. Of course, the Mira Foundation owes much of its success to the heroes that are changing these children's lives one day at a time — the guide dogs of the MIRA Foundation. Careful breeding is important to the success of the foun- dation. The goal, when breeding the best dog, is to look for the best physical and behavioral features. The foundation wants to ensure compatibility with their necessary requirement for creating the best guide dogs for these chil- dren. Foundation staff has discovered the best breed is a mixture of Labrador and Bernese Mountain Dog, which creates the Labernese. Michael Moore, 18, is a resident in the Fayetteville community and attends the Governor Morehead School for the blind in Raleigh. Moore has one of the guide dog. Robbie, Moore's dog, came from the MIRA Foundation. His mother, Michelle Moore, could not be more pleased to have this dog in their lives. "The foundation has been awesome and the expe- rience has been wonderful for Michael," Moore says. "Had he gotten this dog in middle school he would have stayed mainstream in Cumberland County." Moore explained that the bond between Robbie and Michael is strong. "He is the sweetest dog," she said. "A lot of places do not advocate guide dogs for children but the Mira Foundation does and we are so pleased." Currently, the Mira Foundation has plans to place two more dogs with blind children in Fayetteville. MIRA Foundation USA has many events in the Fayetteville area. The third annual Sandhills Dining in the Dark Dinner on April 28, will be held at the elegant Pinehurst Member's Club. The event will allow guests to eat their meal blindfolded to experience being blind. The Mira Foundation has its only office in Aberdeen, N.C., on 112 N. Poplar St., but they are continuing to expand. The foundation is focused on making a better life for children who are blind. For more information about the MIRA Foundation USA or to volunteer, visit www.mirausa.org or contact the main office at 944-7757. SHANNON ANGRY, Intern. COM- MENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. North Carolina's Real State Budget by JOHN HOOD If all you know about North Carolina's state budget is what you see in head- lines or hear in political ads, you don't know enough. Most politicians and ana- lysts talk only about the general fund — the share of state spending paid for by North Carolina's income tax, statewide sales tax and a few other sources. Yes, the general fund pays for most teacher salaries and prison beds. And the general fund is directly under the control of North Carolina gover- nors and lawmakers, unlike some other parts of the budget. But the general fund, which totals nearly $20 billion this fiscal year, only represents 39 percent of North Carolina's state budget of about $51 billion. When I first moved back to North Carolina from Washington in 1989, the general fund accounted for fully 60 per- cent of state spending. One big change has been in the relationship of Washington fiscal policy to that of North Carolina (and to all other states). In 1989, federal funds made up about 20 percent of the state budget. In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, federal funds make up 36 percent of the state budget, mostly in the areas of Medicaid, social services, edu- cation and unemployment benefits. In other words, government revenues raised either by federal borrowing or federal taxes and fees pay for nearly as much state spending in North Carolina as do government revenues raised by general fund taxes and fees. Because virtually every "federal" dol- lar spent in North Carolina comes from a federal taxpayer in North Carolina (either today or, in the case of debt, in the future), it is truly silly — and highly misleading — to focus on the $20 billion general fund as if it were "the" state budget of North Carolina. North Carolina's state bud- get this year is $51 billion, not $20 billion. chasers of motor fuels. Unlike federal funds, highway funds have declined as a share of the state budget, from 10 percent in 1989 to 6 percent today. The remaining $10 billion is classified as "other revenue." What is it? Well, one way to think about state government is that it is a holding company for dozens of separate enterprises — educational institutions, medical providers, grantmakers, regulators and infrastructure financiers, for example — that collect receipts as a part of their daily operations. Of the University of North Carolina system's $4 billion budget, for example, receipts and other enterprise revenues outside of the gen- eral fund account for nearly one third of the total. State government also manages an unclaimed — property fund, purchases information services, operates a state lottery, manages a portfolio of financial assets and liabilities and manages a portfolio of fee-generating real estate (such as the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh). All of these activi- ties, and many more, generate revenues of various kinds. My point is that if you look only at the general fund — leaving out federal funds, highway funds, receipts and other revenue — you are looking at far less than half of what North Carolina state govern- ment does every year. You are undercounting how much money gets spent on major programs such as education, health care and trans- portation. Because these funding shares have changed over time, you are likely overestimating the fiscal impact of recent general fund budget cuts and underestimating the extent to which North Carolina So, of the $51 billion state budget, $20 billion comes from the general fund and $18 billion from federal funds. That still leaves $13 billion in annual state spending unaccounted for. Nearly $3 billion of that represents transportation spending in either the highway fund or the highway trust fund. These are also taxes and fees collected primarily from North Carolinians, in their capacity as owners of vehicles or pur- 16 UCW MARCH 7-13, 2012 continues to spend a tremendous amount of money on programs of wildly vary- ing justification or effectiveness. North Carolina's state budget this year is $51 billion, not $20 billion. Even that doesn't include fiscal liabilities that will be accrued this year but don't show up on the budget, such as the future cost of paying future ben- efits to current state employees. Sound like a lot to you? It should. JOHN HOOD, Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM