Local Agency Raising Funds for Fuel Emergencies
 |
"I have people calling me already, people who say, 'Marie, I never thought I would have to ask you for help,'" said Marie Harpin, area director for Berkshire Community Action North. The nonprofit agency assists local families in finding find housing, transportation, employment, clothing, food and other necessities, including heating fuel.
Harpin wants to be proactive by raising money for organization's Emergency Fuel Fund through four fundraisers in the coming weeks. The money will go to help families and individuals in Northern Berkshire.
Social agencies throughout the Northeast have been swamped in recent years as the price of heating fuel has continued to climb. This winter may be the worst yet as heating oil prices have nearly doubled, natural gas prices have jumped up to 25 percent and electric rates are rising.
That's biting into the budgets of Sprague Electric retirees, young families and middle income folk who never thought they'd need assistance, said Harpin.
"The elderly people are coming in and asking me what to do," she said.
The local agency, part of Berkshire Community Action based in Pittsield, received some $25,000 last year in donations from businesses, indivuduals and the United Way.
But that kind of money won't go far this year; with heating oil averaging more than $4 a gallon, it will cost upwards of $1,000 to fill a 250-gallon tank. In other words, $25,000 will barely fill the tanks of 25 families — once.
The Northeast is the most dependent on fuel oil to heat homes. More than 60 percent of the region 8 million households use heating oil. It's important to keep people in their homes, said Harpin, who has rejected suggestions to use the funds for an emergency shelter.
"My focus is to keep people in their apartments, in their homes," she said. "We take people out of their homes and apartments we'll have more problems."
Shelters have to be staffed and maintained; meanwhile, empty homes could suffer from burst pipes and vandalism. Better, she said, to get the fuel to the homes and keep families intact.
The Congress is expected to consider extra funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, a federal fuel assistance program that's the state's congressional delegation says has been underfunded for years. But the income guidelines for LIHEAP won't be available until October.
The first fundraiser for the local Emergency Fuel Fund is Tuesday, Aug. 19, from 5 to 8 at the Bounti-Fare Restaurant on Route 8 in Adams. The restaurant offers a Community Nigh in the Courtyard each Tuesday to help nonprofit groups raise money. Participants will be able to order off the summer menu, take chances on the 50/50 raffle and try for an array of items and services donated by local businesses in a silent auction.
The next event is a spaghetti supper on Thursday, Sept. 4, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Elk's Lodge on Eagle Street. Tickets are $6 and $5 for seniors and children under age 12. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and another silent auction.
How much is heating oil this week?
