Bishop announces drive to raise heating funds
By Michael Brown
Editor
NORTH PROVIDENCE - Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has announced a drive to raise money for fuel assistance, with the diocese matching up to $75,000 of the funds donated, for a combined $150,000 target.
Standing outside the home of John and Tracy Delgado, a couple who received a $2,700 check from the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund so they could pay their fuel bill, the bishop held a press conference Oct. 31 to ask for donations to help elderly and low-income Rhode Islanders get heat restored to their homes before the onset of winter.
Noting that he was in a residential neighborhood hours before it would be inundated with children trick-or-treating, the bishop said, “There is nothing scarier than a family going through an entire winter without heat.” The drive, called ‘Bishop Tobin’s ‘Keep the Heat On’ Challenge,’ will be coordinated through the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund, a diocesan-administered ecumenically-funded program that serves as an agency of last resort for those seeking financial help for heating and other vital services.
Bishop Tobin encouraged other sources of funds for heating assistance in addition to the diocesan drive. “I know that this program will not meet all of the needs of those who are facing heating difficulties,” he said. “I encourage the federal government to increase the amount of funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
“I am aware that Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and legislative leaders are concerned and discussing a state plan that will keep the homes of our senior citizens, low-income and working families heated this winter. However, that plan may be weeks away.”
“Since arriving in Rhode Island, I have heard the story of Roger William’s first winter here, and the assistance he and his fellow refugees from Massachusetts received from the Narragansett Indians,” he continued. “This challenge is initiated in that same spirit: That we assist one another in getting through a difficult time.” John J. Barry III, secretary for Social Ministry, said that 4,400 elderly and families are already without gas to heat their homes this year because of outstanding balances, many of which were likely carried over from a bitterly cold 2004 winter. He hopes that people will be as generous as possible as soon as possible to help these families get service restored before the cold weather settles into the area.
Richard Andrade, coordinator of the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund, said that as donations to the drive are received in the office, one dollar of every four will be set aside for those currently without heat and the remaining three dollars will be used to help those in danger of losing heat to maintain service. “We’ll be looking at requests on a case by case basis,” Andrade said.
Bishop Tobin initiated the fund drive shortly after the state Public Utilities Commission granted New England Gas, the state’s sole supplier of natural gas, a rate increase of more than 14 percent. “It’s pretty self-evident that people need this kind of help right now,” the bishop said, at the press conference.
To get things started, Bishop Tobin made a personal contribution. He also sent a letter to parishes asking for their help with this campaign.
Donations should be sent to the Interfaith Community Dire Emergency Fund, Office of Community Services and Advocacy, 184 Broad St., Providence, RI, 02903-4029, with the notation ‘Keep the Heat On.’
This article originally published in The Providence Visitor.