Gift of Warmth: 76-year-old woman now warmer and safer in her home
Barbara Thomas, a 76-year-old Rochester retiree, recently awoke to find her mobile home of 25 years feeling like the inside of a refrigerator.
The mobile home had always been drafty, but this was different. This was bone-chilling cold.
Thinking she might have run out of oil, Thomas, a retired insurance rater from Liberty Mutual, called Local Pride Heating Oil in Rochester and they gave her the bad news. She wasn’t out of oil. Her furnace was dead.
Thankfully, Local Pride reached out to the Community Action Program of Strafford County and, very quickly, help was on the way. Community Action provided a new furnace and then went a step further. They weatherized the trailer and even put in more energy-efficient light bulbs.
“They were wonderful,” Thomas said. They even installed a CO detector.
Thomas, who raised four children, said that tough times can strike anyone and that nobody should think they are out in the cold alone.
“Don’t be hesitant to call,” the community action programs, she said. “If they can help you, they will.”
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How to donate
The way the Gift of Warmth program works is simple, and comes from the heart. Each week, Seacoast Media Group shares the story of one person or family that received help from the Rockingham or Strafford community action programs. This allows readers to know the real needs of the real people their Gift of Warmth contributions, of whatever amount, help to address.
Donations are gratefully accepted, and will be distributed among the two CAP programs for them to make a real difference in real lives.
This year, we ask that checks donated to Gift of Warmth be made out directly to either Rockingham Community Action or the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County. Please write “Gift of Warmth” in the check memo line to ensure the money goes for fuel assistance.
Checks should be mailed to Gift of Warmth, Seacoast Media Group, 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801. We will tally the checks, record the names of each week’s contributors and then forward the checks on to the two county community action programs. Each week throughout the campaign, Seacoast Media Group will publish that week’s donors.
Again, please make the checks out to either the Rockingham Community Action Program or the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County and write Gift of Warmth in the memo line.
If you need help
To apply for fuel assistance, call Rockingham Community Action at (603) 431-2911. People experiencing any significant hardship or financial crisis can also call and they will be referred to the appropriate person. For more information, visit snhs.org.
For Community Action Partnership of Strafford County, call (603) 435-2500 or visit straffordcap.org.
This week’s donations bring total to $54,930
This week's contributors are:
Cam Perl, $200
Lisa Stanley, $150
Karyn & Michael McBride, $100
Anonymous, $250
Brianna & Brian Young, $200
Nancy McDonough, $100
From Michael, Jason, and Kathryn, $300
Darcy Davidson & Robert Snover, $100
Martin & Paulette Hoeflich, $100
Ellen Marlatt & Kathleen Wheeler, $100
Clair Grant, $100
Anonymous, $200
Jean Burbank, $50
Nelle & Mickey, $100
Kathleen & Robert Calkins, $100
Mary & Thomas Lambert, $100
Ann Woodward Rev Trust, $150
Karen Saltus, $300
Donna & Manuel Garganta, $100
Anne & Hayim Schwartzman, $300
Jolanda Fannin, $100
Cosmas & Linda Iocovozzi, $200
T McCue, $100
In memory of Stanley & Janet Wiggin and Theodore & Romilda Gaiero, $100
Margaret Bell, $50
In memory of T.J. Bassett, $250
The Freeman Family, $200
Leslie & Matthew Allen, $200
Anonymous, $100
Patricia Klotz, $100
Janet & William Carlson, $100
Anonymous, $100
Peter & Susan Hennigan, $500
Margaret & Steven Dawson, $100
Joan Lovett, $25
Sandra Ciolfi, $50
Deborah Regan & Peter Kelley, $100
Anonymous, $500
Ellen & Robert Docili, $500
Maria Stowell, $100
Anonymous, $100
In memory of Barb Iafolla, $50
In memory of John O. Johnsen, $50
Anonymous, $100
Dick & Katie Wentworth, $100
Steven & Jeanne Evans, $100
In memory of Edith Pearson, $100
Anonymous, $500
Piscataqua Savings Bank, $2,000
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Gift of Warmth: 76-year-old woman now warmer and safer in her home
