BANGOR – An emergency heating assistance program that captured international attention last winter is back.

The Sunny Corner Fuel Assistance Program, founded last year by Bangor residents the Rev. Gerald Oleson and Amy Cooper, is in full fundraising mode and plans to begin in October dispensing funds to families facing heating fuel crises, Oleson said Thursday.

So far, the program has received donations from the Bangor Kiwanis Breakfast Club and a Christian woman who recently moved to Maine and has been tithing to the fuel program for the past two months. Collection jars have been set out at area hardware and convenience stores.

In addition, several area businesses have agreed to help raise money, Oleson said.

“What we’re doing basically is [holding on to the money raised so far this summer] hoping that the price of oil will go down a bit more by then,” he said, referring to the recent drop from a peak $140 for a barrel of crude oil to the current $125, he said.

Fueled entirely by donations, Sunny Corner is a heating assistance resource unlike most others in that it doesn’t require rigorous income eligibility qualifications or impose a long waiting period.

If there’s money in the pot and you’re in need, you get the help. If there’s no money, you are put on a waiting list, which Oleson said Thursday has 20 people on it so far.

The catch is that the program is completely donation-driven, so its ability to help keep Mainers warm depends on people’s willingness to contribute.

And because the program is volunteer-driven, all of the money raised can go toward buying oil.

From Dec. 18 of last year through March 28, Sunny Corner received almost $20,000 in donations. That money was used to buy heating oil for 83 families, according to Oleson.

Oleson said the fund was created last December after a conversation with Cooper about the hardships many area families were facing.

The two e-mailed friends and acquaintances asking those who had a little extra to share with those unable to pay for heating fuel.

The e-mail, as well as appeals through local media outlets, brought in contributions ranging from a handful of change from an 11-year-old girl in Millinocket to a check for $3,500.

Word of the program spread to newspapers and Internet sites across the United States and to places as far away as London and Singapore.

As Oleson sees it, Sunny Corner is part of the answer to the coming heating crisis but not the whole solution.

“My program is a Band-Aid. It’ll help people get through a winter, but it’s not a long-term solution,” he said. “If you weatherize, the benefits last forever.”

Donations to Sunny Corner Fuel Assistance should be sent to 731/2 Court St., Bangor 04401-4736. For more information or to apply for assistance, call 947-2970 or visit the program’s Web site at www.sunnycornerfuelassistance.com.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

990-8189