LINCOLN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- It's a cold January day in Lincoln, a light snow is falling, and inside his old, drafty home, Thom Huffstutler resists any urge to set the thermostat above the 66 its set at now.
"It makes you a nervous wreck, it's scary because you don't know if you're going to have the heat you need to survive these cold maine winters," Huffstutler said.
He's worried because he and his wife are disabled and live on social security income, and this year they, learned their low income heating assistance was being slashed dramatically.
"We've gone from as I've shown you here 1400 dollars two years ago to 180 dollars this year, and 180 dollars doesn't even give us 50 gallons."
Tom's done everything from putting plastic up on the windows and heavy blankets over a drafty back wing of the house. He considers himself luckier than most because he called Citizens Oil and got 100 gallons delivered. He also got an unexpected lump sum of money from social security.
"I got a windfall because of a change in my social security. I went from full disability to retirement and i got an almost extra $1200 dollars last month and this month combined, and that we were putting for oil."
We will be holding a telethon to help Mainers this winter. It's called "Project Heat." It helps raise money for 'The Keep Maine Warm Fund', a joint project of United Way and 10 Community Action Programs. We'll be taking your calls and donations from 6 a-m to 8 p-m on Thursday. United way of Greater Portland will collect and distribute the donations.
NEWS CENTER