Connecticut: Donations Sought For Winter Heating Assistance

[phantom power]

Cloth butterflies dangle above a woman's head as she sits in a bedroom looking away from the camera. The camera zooms toward the direction of her gaze — a tiny hand, her daughter's, resting on her own.

A message flashes across the screen: "Dear Connecticut ... If you are worried about the cost of heating this year ... Imagine the families that couldn't afford it last year."

(...)

With energy costs rising, officials expect this winter will place unprecedented demand on the state's heating aid programs.

"We really need everyone's help," said the executive direcotr of Operation Fuel, Patricia Wrice, recounting the story of an elderly man in eastern Connecticut who received aid for the first time last winter. "The following week, he called to say he'd taken a hot shower for the first time in two months."

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctopfuel0909.artsep09,0,679673.story