The Second in an ongoing series

BANGOR – When push comes to shove, Mainers take matters into their own hands.

That’s how the Sunny Corner Fuel Assistance program was born.

The Rev. Gerald Oleson of Bangor said the fund arose in mid-December from a conversation with Amy Cooper, also of Bangor, about the hardships many area families are facing with regard to keeping warm this winter.

“I don’t know if it was her idea or mine, but we decided to go ahead and do it,” he said.

“I e-mailed about 160 people, I guess,” asking those who had a little extra to share that with those unable to pay for heating fuel.

“That’s what we do in Maine,” Oleson said in an interview last week.

“Some of us are asking our friends to chip in to a private fund to use for oil when we hear of folks who need it,” he wrote in his e-mail. “And 100 percent of the money can go to pay for the oil as there is no overhead; we volunteer to help. Just neighbors helping neighbors.

“Some people get city or town aid and help from Penquis CAP, but that won’t be enough,” he wrote. “The Citizens Energy program is a good thing. People can get up to 100 gallons of oil for free … and how long does 100 gallons last in subzero weather?”

The e-mail, as well as appeals through local media outlets, had brought in about $3,000 as of last week, Oleson said. Contributions have ranged from $10 to $1,000.

“The need is unreal,” Oleson said. “I’ve got a grandmother with pneumonia who is taking care of three grandchildren [and] can’t afford a taxi to go to the doctor.

“Another woman from Down East cried on the phone. She had to swallow her pride, she said. One man has eight kids and no oil,” Oleson said, adding that “people are filling 5-gallon cans with oil and living day to day.”

A donation-driven program

Fueled by donations from friends of founders Oleson and Cooper, 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 not, you are put on a waiting list, which Oleson said last week had more than 100 people on it.

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.

Since it was launched, Sunny Corner has helped more than a dozen households, including:

. A family of three from Seal Harbor.

. A mother and daughter from Bangor. Though the mom works, she had not been paid for two months.

. A single mother in Orrington with two children. Her ex-husband is behind on child support payments.

. A Hampden mother of two going through a difficult divorce.

. A single man from Bangor who lost his job the week before Christmas.

. An elderly Milo woman who had been carrying an electric heater around to keep warm.

. A Corinna man with six children and no oil.

Help for an Orono man

Charlie Martin of Orono is one of the people Oleson’s program was able to assist.

Martin, 49, is a single father of four children, two of them grown and on their own and two elementary school age and living with him.

Until recently, home was the house his father built more than four decades ago. Because of health problems, Martin hasn’t worked in almost a year. He isn’t qualified yet for disability benefits. A mortgage with a predatory lender, however, made it impossible for Martin to keep the family homestead. The financial strain ended his marriage. As a result of a foreclosure, Martin was forced to move out on Dec. 23.

“Daddy, why are you taking the tree down before Christmas?” his 6-year-old daughter asked.

“To me, that was the bottom of the barrel,” said Martin, who is living temporarily in a small house owned by his brother.

Like many Mainers, Martin was filling the oil tank a few 5-gallon cans at a time.

“And that wasn’t going to last very long,” he said. He learned about Sunny Corner from a friend and called, figuring he had nothing to lose.

Fortunately for Martin, there was money in the pot that day. Shortly after the call, a fuel truck showed up and dropped off a 50-gallon delivery.

He since has become qualified for assistance from LIHEAP, but Martin remains worried about fuel.

“I don’t heat the whole house,” he said. He closed off much of the house, heating only the main living areas and one bedroom for his children.

“I sleep on the couch,” he said.

“I’ve never struggled for anything in my life. It’s been demeaning to me,” he said.

“But it’s 2008,” he said. “It’s going to be different. I’ve just got to think positive and put good karma into it.”

Donations to Sunny Corner Fuel Assistance should be sent to 731/2 Court St., Bangor 04401; telephone 947-2970.

dgagnon@bangordailynews.net

990-8189