Fireside Fund donations give relief to woman, her mother after move to Sumter
Sumter County residents without heat on frosty mornings are responding with gratitude for the relief provided by the Fireside Fund, said Kevin Howell, Sumter United Ministries' Crisis Relief Ministry director.
The crisis relief ministry continues to interview clients in need of heat, he said, with many of those clients using "fill-as-you-go" commodities such as propane and kerosene.
The community has donated more than $1.5 million to Fireside Fund, established by The Sumter Item in November 1969, helping countless families keep warm in the winter. Money donated to the initiative is given to a local nonprofit organization, Sumter United Ministries in recent years, which will provide heating assistance to families in need.
Howell said one recent request was to fill a residential propane tank.
The client moved to Sumter in the summer, he said, and was unaware that her source of heat was separate from her cooling system, meaning there was no propane tank in the yard.
This client, who is disabled and in her 50s, moved here with her ailing mother to be near her sister, Howell said. They were forced to vacate when the landlord sold their previous home, he said.
Howell said the client has a traumatic past that includes being a victim of an attempted murder when she worked at an accounting office and getting robbed at gunpoint.
Her mother suffers from dementia, he said.
"The client was tearful in describing the struggle to care for her mother and to make ends meet on the combined limited income that they share," he said.
She spends a fair amount of income purchasing adult disposable briefs and other medical supplies for her mother, he said. The woman sometimes even pays less than the amount due on utilities to ensure she can buy those supplies, he said.
Gladly, Howell said, SUM provided the necessary resources to fill a tank with propane, which should provide months of heat and provide some relief with the assurance of a warm home.
"Stories like this are heartwarming and rewarding when we have the opportunity to share burdens and express kindness," he said.
"Though you may not be directly involved with clients like these," he said, "each time you give to the Fireside Fund you take part in the story."
Donations received the week ending Tuesday, Dec. 11:
The Sunshine Club of Bethel Methodist Church in Oswego, $100; The Book Club, $50; The Presbyterian Women of Concord Presbyterian Church, $325; Mr. and Mrs. Frasier Saunders III, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. William LeNoir Jr., $25; Col., retired, and Mrs. Donald Adee, $200; Jim and Marsha Jones, in memory of Roger Ackerman, $2,000; The Lee Altman Bible Class of Bethel UMC, honoring class members Margaret Edens and Francis "Sinky" Garrison, $200; in memory of Ed Dallery from his family, $100; Mary King, in memory of William King, $100; Charles Sikora, $100; Jack Osteen, in honor of the Mt. Vernon Coffee Club, $300; Thomas Riddle, $500; Joan and Frank Doyle, in memory of Tracy Millar, $100; and the Propst and Spells families, in memory of Roger Ackerman, Charles L. "Flop" Shaw and Charles McCreight, $300.