As Operation Fuel prepares for its 36th year of providing emergency energy assistance to Connecticut households, the non-profit is asking individual donors to consider giving whatever they can afford in an effort to help families who are struggling to stay warm this winter.
Operation Fuel is the only statewide emergency energy assistance program in Connecticut; most recipients are either elderly or working families with children.
Executive Director Patricia Wrice said that, as in past years, Operation Fuel will receive many more requests for energy assistance this winter than they can fulfill. Connecticut has the highest electrical rates in the continental United States along with the high cost of home heating oil and natural gas. As a result, one in five households can’t afford their energy bill.
Wrice said Operation Fuel hopes to raise at least $1 million from individual donors this winter. Donations for Operation Fuel can be sent to Operation Fuel, One Regency Drive, Suite 200, Bloomfield, CT 06002 or made online at www.operationfuel.org.
Operation Fuel will begin taking applications on December 3. Individuals who need emergency energy assistance should call 211.
Last year, Operation Fuel gave out $2.4 million in energy grants to nearly 6,000 households. Wrice pointed out, “We easily could have given out twice that amount if we had the resources…that is how serious the energy affordability crisis is in Connecticut.”
Operation Fuel is a private, nonprofit program that provides emergency energy assistance through its statewide network of over 100 fuel banks to lower-income working families, the elderly and disabled individuals who are in financial crisis and not eligible for energy assistance from government-funded programs. Operation Fuel works in partnership with businesses, communities, government and individuals to ensure that Connecticut households have access year-round to critically needed energy assistance.