FARMINGTON – The Farmington Area Ecumenical Ministry would like to thank the wider community for supporting the Ecumenical Heating Fund with such great generosity this winter. The Christmas Concert held at Old South Church on Tuesday, December 4, and featuring the Celtic band COIG, helped to generate $11,891 for the ECU HEAT SHARE “50 for $50” program.
This program serves any low-income household in Franklin County with one 50-gallon fuel delivery per heating season (November through March). Applicants provide WMCA with information about their regular fuel vendor, attach a $50 money order payable to the vendor, and deliver the form to WMCA in E. Wilton. WMCA sends approved applications to the appropriate vendor for delivery. Oil, kerosene, propane, pellets or cord wood will be delivered, depending on the primary form of fuel used in that household. Applications are available at Town Offices and churches throughout Franklin County; applications may also be found at the WMCA Service Center, 20A Church Street in E. Wilton, where applications are processed for approval.
ECU HEAT SHARE has already served 220 applicants so far this heating season. ECU HEAT is obligated to pay an estimated $22,000 for the balance due on those deliveries. 220 deliveries is well over half the number served last winter throughout the entire heating season. Winter began early this year. The price of oil is approximately 15% higher than it was a year ago. And more families are feeling the pinch. The COIG Christmas Concert was hosted by Old South Church to benefit the ECU HEAT fund, so that no home would be turned away for lack of resources. Thankfully, this community is very generous and truly cares about their neighbors in need. ECU HEAT is a good way to help our neighbors stay warm this winter.
Sponsors – Rockwell and Stephanie Bjorn, Louise McCleery, Barbara Black, and the Farmington Rotary Club – contributed $3,200 toward a Matching Grant associated with the Christmas Concert Benefit. 250 attended the concert and gave donations totaling $3,074. FAEM thanks Old South Church for organizing the event and contributing to ECU HEAT all the proceeds remaining after paying the band. Other caring neighbors sent $3,722 by mail toward the Matching Grant of $5,000 offered by Sandy River Charitable Foundation. FAEM thanks many neighbors from many Franklin County towns who have come together to raise more than enough to qualify for the Matching Grant. Donations are received year round at ECU HEAT, P.O. Box 147, Farmington, ME 04938. Contributions are tax-deductible and will be acknowledged. The Franklin County Ecumenical Heating Fund is a ministry of F.A.E.M., a charitable non-profit corporation.
