Sumter Fireside Fund helps one-time clients out of sudden hole
I caught a plane while on vacation once from Chicago to Las Vegas that was only 30% full.
It was luxurious! Sit wherever you please or stretch out there was ample room. My wife found a way to buckle her seat belt and lay out over the three seats for a nap. Needless to say that it was the best flight I have ever experienced.
Margin is nice, but many of the seniors who visit the Crisis Relief Ministry do not have ample room in their budgets. For many low-income retirees, certain luxuries and wants have been dismissed, and the margin between bills being paid and surplus for incidental spending is very small. It takes (nearly) everything going according to plan to avoid a shortfall. As Dave Ramsey puts it, the one thing about unexpected expenses is that they are to be expected. For many, when an emergency exceeds the margin in their budget, we will be the place they turn to for help.
One lady visited this week, and it struck me that she is not a client that we would expect to see often. Between Social Security and a pension, her income was certainly adequate to live independently. She still has a mortgage, which made the budget more restrictive than others her age that own their homes. Still, she is normally OK with a little room to spare until she had a problem with her HVAC. It's rare that you know your heating system is not running well until your electric bill shakes you into awareness. In one month, her electric bill doubled to over $600. The bar graph on her bill told the story of a significant usage spike, likely due to a lack of refrigerant and the auxiliary heat supplementing to heat the home. All of this happened without her being aware.
I do not expect that we will see this client often, but this was a case of a "one-time" need where a bill exceeded her ability to catch up. For our seniors, many of whom have limited options like getting a part-time job, this economy and inflation have presented numerous challenges. Low-income seniors, especially those who are living alone, are among the most deserving clients we interview here. Your contributions to the Fireside Fund allow us to comfort anxious hearts with financial assistance that truly makes a difference. Thank you!
Kevin Howell is the director of the Crisis Relief Ministry at Sumter United Ministries.
ABOUT THE FIRESIDE FUND
Each winter since 1969, The Sumter Item has run a fundraiser to collect money from its readers to be donated entirely to Sumter United Ministries.
The faith-based nonprofit provides emergency and life-rebuilding services ranging from food, shelter and clothing to final notice bill pay, access to educational opportunities and a medical clinic. The Sumter Item recognizes and appreciates every ministry their staff and volunteers run, but the Fireside Fund was created to focus on one area that becomes critical for the next few months: heat.
Every penny donated will directly help people who live in Sumter by preventing heating services from being turned off, allowing access to propane or other heating sources and, when enough funding is available and the need is there, funding long-term housing fixes to make homes more efficient.
IN HONOR OF
Each year, The Item's leadership team picks a person who has recently passed away to which the year's campaign will be dedicated. The person honored is someone who made a positive impact in the community, whether through service or philanthropy, business or community leadership.
If you think about the impact the Rev. William Samuel Randolph imparted in terms of civic service, entrepreneurialism, faith leadership and human rights, he checked all the boxes.
The now-late uncle of current Sumter City Councilman James B. Blassingame moved to Sumter to attend Morris College. His legacy is as a pastor of First Baptist Missionary Church for 47 years, owner and operator of Randolph General Construction Co. and city councilman from 1987 to 2008, including mayor pro tempore for 19 of those years. His civil rights legacy is the 1961 S.C. Supreme Court case that, while he was arrested 11 times in the fight for racial equality, was pivotal in charges being dropped for several civil rights activists.
Randolph died Sept. 17 at the age of 88.
New donations as of Feb. 13: Crosswell Baptist Bible Study Group, $35.