Heating oil program may not help much locally

By Heather Killen

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

The province and members of the Canadian Oil Heat Association are offering cold comfort to low-income Nova Scotians.

The province recently announced that two Salvation Army-administered relief programs are receiving new funds to help low-income families offset the rising cost of home heating this winter.

But local members of the Salvation Army warn that Valley residents probably shouldn’t pack away their heavy sweaters just yet.

The Good Neighbour Program and the Share the Fuel programs will receive $200,000 from the province and about $115,000 in cash and oil from members of the Canadian Oil Heat Association. “Thanks to the generosity of corporate citizens, about $115,000 in cash and oil is on its way to the Salvation Army to help an additional 450 families stay warm this winter,” according to the statement issued last week.

This follows the government's February 14 announcement of a $200,000 donation to the fund. According to the latest release, Nova Scotia Power and members of the Canadian Oil Heat Association – Irving Oil, Bluewave Energy, Ultramar, Superline Fuels and Wilson's Fuels have all donated.

The Good Neighbour Program, began in 1997 by Nova Scotia Power employees and administered through the Salvation Army, runs from January to April.

Earlier this year the Salvation Army announced that fewer funds were available this year to face a higher than usual demand. Resources were quickly drained by early February.

Kathy Shears, community program coordinator at the local branch of the Salvation Army said it’s unlikely that much of the new money will be directed here. “We get four to five calls each day,” she said. “There are hundreds of people applying for this program in communities across the province.”

Shears said the fund is administered through the Halifax office and provides about $250, about a quarter tank, to eligible families. This emergency fund can be accessed once every five years.

Captain Krista Hillier, of the Salvation Army Bridgetown Community Church, said that additional funding is welcome news, but she admits there is a greater influx of calls than the resources can handle. “Most of our calls these days are concerning heating oil,” she said. “It’s great for us that we can facilitate this program, at one point we were turning people away.”

She added the energy fund coffers ran out about the same time many people’s oil tanks went dry. “The challenge is, with rising prices, it all adds up to an increasing need that is drawing on a diminishing resource.”

After a pause she added, “The price of milk went up yesterday.”

For rural people living close to the edge, soaring prices at the stores and gas pumps only exacerbates an already precarious situation.

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said he was pleased at the generous response by these corporate citizens and encouraged other businesses to follow suit. “Their donations to the Salvation Army are prime examples of how Nova Scotians look after one another in times of need,” said McNeil, “and I encourage other businesses to also support this extremely valuable program.”

McNeil also noted that as generous as these contributions are, it does not lessen the government’s responsibility to the hundreds of low-income Nova Scotians who find themselves in crisis this winter. “Premier MacDonald cannot continue to rely on others to do his job for him,” McNeil said. “He must do the right thing and reinstate the ‘Keep the Heat’ program.”

The province is also working on a long-term solution to address the impact of the rising cost of oil. Part of the solution will involve its poverty strategy, conservation efforts, and working with community groups, businesses and individuals.

Anyone wishing to apply to the Good Neighbour Fund can contact Kathy Shears at the Bridgetown office on Tuesdays and Fridays (902) 665-4011, or at the Thrift Store on Wednesdays and Thursdays (902) 825-2452.