With home costs, A/C fixes to old houses often too costly for owners; Fireside Fund helps United Ministries clients stay warm
Nearly a decade ago, my family bought a foreclosure. We moved in and began the process of improving the property.
When our furnace died during late February, I knew the season was nearing an end and the money needed to replace a furnace could be best used elsewhere. We still had our gas fireplace to heat the entire front of the house. We made it through the next few weeks and tackled the repair the next autumn.
The best way that I could describe the situation in which many of our clients heat their homes is "all or nothing." As I have mentioned many times before, our clients often buy substandard housing because it is cheap. However, having a working heating system may or may not be a reality.
A client called me last week. He bought a fixer-upper but has no heat. The house has piping for gas heat, but he fears it is too old.
Another client visited the Crisis Relief Ministry this week after her central A/C stopped working. She was advised it needed total replacement. The cost of a new heat pump is more than a half-year of income for many of our clients. It was not an option for her. She had heat, then just like that, she had no way to heat her home. All or nothing.
We were able to evaluate the need and purchase some plug-in heaters she could use. It is the only feasible option in such cases, but she was thrilled that she could keep warm on the cool mornings we have had.
Each time you give to Sumter United Ministries through the Fireside Fund, you make beautiful stories of hope like this one possible. Thank you for sharing!
Kevin Howell is the director of the Crisis Relief Ministry at Sumter United Ministries.
ABOUT THE FIRESIDE FUND
Each winter since 1969, The Sumter Item has run a fundraiser to collect money from its readers to be donated entirely to Sumter United Ministries.
The faith-based nonprofit provides emergency and life-rebuilding services ranging from food, shelter and clothing to final-notice bill pay, access to educational opportunities and a medical clinic.
The Sumter Item recognizes and appreciates every ministry their staff and volunteers run, but the Fireside Fund was created to focus on one area that becomes critical for the next few months: heat.
Every penny donated will directly help people who live in Sumter by preventing heating services from being turned off, allowing access to propane or other heating sources and, when enough funding is available and the need is there, funding long-term housing fixes to make homes more efficient.
IN HONOR OF
Each year, The Item's leadership team picks a person who has recently passed away to which the year's campaign will be dedicated. The person honored is someone who made a positive impact in the community, whether through service or philanthropy or business leadership.
This year, Sumter lost two stalwarts in local business and community support on the same day, Billy McLeod of Piggly Wiggly and Carl Simpson III of Simpson Hardware Co.
McLeod was 93 when he died April 4. His father, Gilbert McLeod, founded Mac's Supermarkets, which changed into Piggly Wiggly in the mid-1950s, and McLeod worked in the stores for 70 years, dating to 1954.
Mac's Supermarkets started with two small stores in Sumter. The McLeod family currently owns three Piggly Wigglys in Sumter and eight total. At one time, the family had 16 stores.
Simpson was 82 and died suddenly. Simpson's father, Carl Simpson Jr., founded Simpson Hardware Co. in 1951 with the purchase of stores in Camden, Hartsville and later Sumter. Simpson opened a second location at Palmetto Plaza in Sumter in 1963. Currently, Simpson Hardware has five locations: three in Sumter, one in Manning and one in Lake City.
New donations as of Dec. 3: Jim and Marsha Jones, in memory of Charles Evenich, $1,000; Sandra Noonan, $100; Seeker Sunday School Class, $300; Roger I. Williams, $100; and Bethany Bible School Class / First Presbyterian Church in Sumter, $200.