The investigation of the embarrassing events at the Good Will Home Association in Fairfield has been quite revealing. The events and their investigation of those events have made a laughingstock of John Moore, chairman of the board, as well as the board of directors, the Legislature, House Speaker Mark Eves, the attorney general, the investigating committee and Gov. LePage.

Make fools of yourselves if you wish, but stop embarrassing Good Will and its founder, who made so many revolutionary changes in preventative child care and was such a great asset to Maine.

The aforementioned people and entities obviously have no knowledge of the history of Good Will and the founder’s mission to provide a community of homes and a helping hand for disadvantaged — not at-risk — children, and to do so without government funding.

George W. Hinckley and his son, Walter P. Hinckley, accomplished this through the Great Depression, two world wars and several recessions over a period of 65 years. Again, without any government funding. This is why the current scramble for tax support is so distressing and a laughingstock to thousands of contributors through the years and those of us alumni who were given a home at Good Will.

Try as he would, Moore could not separate himself from his and the board’s part in trying to hire Eves in order to influence state funding of $530,000 in order to secure $2.75 million in grant funding from the Alfond Foundation.

Moore told alumni in August that he would return Good Will back to the original mission. Thus far, after several requests, he has not shared with us any plans to keep that promise.

Of course, he and the board have been busy preparing answers with their attorneys for their appearance before the investigating committee. The chairman and the board have unquestionably demonstrated their inability to be fiscally responsible with government funding and ignorant of the idea to keep the doors of Good Will open and provide homes for children in need.

Please, all of you, just resign so those of us who are dedicated to the carrying out the intent of the founder can have administrative control. A receivership will be required so that administrative transitional problems can be appropriately handled without burdening the authorities.

The Legislature is and always has been willing to bow to the elitists and establishment politicians who have desired the campus and control of the home in order to wield power and obtain government financing against the interests of poor children at Good Will. Thus, in controversies such as this, they have forfeited their responsibilities and allowed the courts to circumvent them and their responsibility to provide a historically oriented audit of the Good Will endowment gifts, and other restricted and unrestricted funds, to determine what was the intent of the founder and donors, what were the observed practices at Good Will at the time the donations were arranged for, and what clearly motivated the donors.

The Legislature and the investigating committees have always ignored this responsibility in favor of the wishes of the establishment and the elitists. The people of Maine have the right to know if money intended for the year–round care of poor children has been illegally and unethically obtained and expended for frivolous causes of the establishment in comparison to the founder’s intent.

Members of the Legislature, start representing the taxpayers you are elected to serve.

Eves said he wanted to be president of Good Will because he wants to help at-risk children there. This clearly demonstrates he has no knowledge of Good Will’s true purpose. He also has been a strong opponent of charter schools. While that is his privilege, he demonstrates that he would have many conflicts of interest in his political views and the interests of Good Will in so many areas. Eves should support Good Will’s true mission without being employed there and simultaneously remaining a politician.

What LePage did in ruining the Good Will campus, which the founder, donors, alumni, churches and people of Maine worked so many decades to create for homeless children, is the ultimate demonstration of power gone amok. His educational agenda in establishing the charter school at Good Will is not in the best interest of Maine. Taking so many acres by force for a charter school and a community college is obscene. He should give what is left of Good Will back to us and let us restore it to its true purpose without state funding.

The people of Maine, donors, past employees and alumni have been deceived and have ignored this situation far too long. It is past time us to rise up and write email and confront all of our representatives to support us and return Good Will back to its true mission.

Jerry Drinkwater is the president of the Hinckley Price Home Association. Carleton Dyer is 1st Alumni Chaplain. Major Roland Fox, USAF retired, and Paul Nagy, minister at Churches of Christ, are alumni.

Related Stories