BANGOR – A coalition of private charities launched a $500,000 fund Wednesday that is designed to ease the short-term, as well as long-term, home heating needs for 700 low-income people in five eastern Maine counties.

The money will be distributed through Penquis Community Action Program and the Washington Hancock Community Agency to provide assistance to people approved for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program who are on waiting lists due to limits on the funding.

The Eastern Maine Funders Energy Initiative will provide fuel assistance, weatherization, furnace maintenance and bulk purchasing for people in Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington counties.

Half of the money has been directed to the state’s Keep ME Warm Fund to meet immediate needs for home heating fuel.

The remaining $250,000 will go to longer-term strategies, including support of weatherization programs, promotion of reduced rate or in-kind furnace maintenance and bulk or smart fuel purchasing options.

The group already has coordinated with area oil dealers to provide 60 free furnace cleanings to needy families, the coalition announced Wednesday during a news conference.

“Several months ago, the Eastern Maine Funders began talking about how we might coordinate our efforts to respond to an emergency,” said Jeff Walmstrom, chairman of the Maine Philanthropy Center.

“This is the first time in our region that a group of private foundations has responded in a strategic, coordinated way to a crisis like this,” he said. “And it is not by chance that we are here on the first day of what promises to be a very cold winter to announce this timely philanthropic leadership.”

Requests for fuel and weatherization assistance from CAP agencies already are up 25 percent over last year, said Jennifer Giosia, the LIHEAP contact for Penquis CAP.

The average Maine home uses 800 to 1,000 gallons of heating oil a year. LIHEAP and other assistance program provide about 180 gallons of oil a year for needy families or about a half a tank of oil per household, she said.

About 40 percent of home heating assistance requests come from the elderly, and another 40 percent come from the working poor, according to information provided at the news conference. About half the households include children and have an average household income of about $12,000 per year.

“These are our most vulnerable citizens and that’s why it was critical that we moved quickly,” said Eric Buch, president of United Way of Eastern Maine. “One of the reasons Eastern Maine Funders launched this effort in October was to help people who are being forced to choose between food, fuel, medical care and other necessities every winter.

“We can have a significant impact helping individuals and families in our region over the long term, and we are still looking for more partners to grow our initiative.”

Eastern Maine Funders was set up by the Maine Philanthropy Center in 2003 and includes representatives from Bangor Saving Bank Foundation, Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, The Betterment Fund, C.F. Adams Charitable Trust, Common Good Ventures, JTG Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Maine Health Access Foundation, MBNA Foundation, United Way of Eastern Maine, and the Unity Foundation.

Call Penquis CAP at 973-3630; Mainers Helping Mainers, 990-1773; or (800) 204-2803.