What Can We Do to Help Others This Winter?

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 8:29 pm

Another thread has some heart breaking stories of what life will probably be like for many elderly, young & helpless Americans this winter, which is projected to be a cold one. We have many talented people on this site & I wonder what WE can do to help out our actual & electronic neighbors this fall/winter?
Other than taking care of our own young & elderly family members & neighbors this winter, anyone have any ideas on how we can put some the ingenuity this forum always displays to work?


 
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Yanche
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Post by Yanche » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 9:21 pm

I would expect there will be a great need for heating assistance this winter from Senior Citizens on fixed incomes. One approach each of us can take is to look out for one or more of the truly needy. In each community there will be some service organization, Lions Club, Rotary, Church group, Soup Kitchen, Meals on Wheels,etc. that will have a long list of needs. Contact one and make yourself available. It's a very rewarding experience. I'm a senior myself and I have to say my Lions Club volunteer efforts makes me so appreciative of what I have. There are so many in need. Even in my affluent area we have people living on the edge. The char women at my local McDonalds lives in her car because she can't afford anything else. She is too proud to accept the free room offered her by a fellow Lion. One of the working poor in a rich country.

 
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Devil505
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Post by Devil505 » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 9:46 pm

Good points Yanche & I think we actually do provide a service already by just sharing information & experience on how we heat with coal. Another thing someone with an old, unused stove could do would be to donate it to an elderly person or home & provide physical assistance with it's operation & maybe share some coal.

 
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gambler
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Post by gambler » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 9:50 pm

Devil505 wrote:Another thing someone with an old, unused stove could do would be to donate it to an elderly person or home & provide physical assistance with it's operation & maybe share some coal.
And then grandma gets burned on the stove when she falls and sues your ass off.

scunbag Lawyer: Devil did you have this stove installed in grandma's house?
Devil: yes.
scumbag lawyer: Devil, did you supply the coal for the stove you installed in grandma's house?
Devil: yes.
scunbag lawyer: Devil, do you come over everyday and take care of this stove that you installed in grandmas house?
Devil: yes
scunbag lawyer: So Devil you are the one that is responsible for the stove?
Devil: yes

Judge: The ruling for 1 million dollars is for the plaintiff.
Last edited by gambler on Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 10:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Cap
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Post by Cap » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 10:00 pm

So I gonna give GrandMa a coal stove and black chimney pipe. She has been heating with natural gas for the last 50 years and a maybe oil prior or if I am lucky, it was her job to take out the ashes for Pa's coal boiler when she was 10. That will go over real well. And you live where??? :lol:
Devil, you may send a check to St Nicholas Parish here in PA. I'll match your check and see to it, it is donated to an elderly Grandma or Pa living here in rural PA. Send me a PM for the address.

 
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Post by titleist1 » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 10:11 pm

Here are some ideas that presented themselves last winter. These may give someone an idea for something similar or better in your area. I'm not sure if this is the kind of input you were looking for.

A friend of my neighbors was going through some tough medical issues last year and wasn't able to stash as much firewood as normal - he has a wood stove. With the medical bills, higher heating bills were a problem. At my neighbors suggestion and with the wooded acreage between my neighbor and I we were able to get some substantial loads of firewood cut and split or him just from blowdowns and standing deadwood. We all probably know someone going through a tough medical situation, ask them or someone close to their situation how to help out even if it is in a small way.

Our county has cut funding for the homeless shelters and in one case a municipality had blocked the OC of a private shelter. The churches in the county banded together to support a rotating homeless shelter during the winter months. The shelter rotates from church to church and a temporary shelter is set up to house about 25 - 30 clients for the week. Churches that don't have the room to house the clients help by supplying meals or volunteering to supervise the clients while they are in the building. There may be a similar program in your area that could use some volunteer help.

I know our church gets a lot of calls asking for help to meet utility bills. Those involved in this type of ministry are pretty good at filtering out those who are trying to take advantage of generosity. The church established a fund to help out those that are truly in need. Maybe your church has a similar program you could donate to.

 
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Post by Devil505 » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 11:26 pm

After reading some responses, I suggest that some of you may want to start a new thread titled: "Why We Can't/Shouldn't Help Elderly People This Winter"

My coal stove donation idea was just a quick thought, "shooting from the hip" as I'm prone to do,.........but the idea is what CAN we do, not why we can't do anything.


 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 11:47 pm

Devil...
We each have our own talents that we can provide to organizations/neighbors.
The problem is the lawyers and money grubbing relatives.
If the recipient of your donated stove harms/kills themselves/others because of their stupidity/lack of knowledge someone will sue you!
Keep it simple and keep it local.
Donate your time, money or assist others with your knowledge but cover your ass so you do not end up in the poor house.
Hey there is an idea! :idea:
Let us bring back some of the locally supported 'social' programs that existed before big government got involved.
Neighbors helping neighbors. Doctors making house calls. Something called community.
Remember 'common sense' is not all that common! 8-)

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Thu. Aug. 28, 2008 11:52 pm

My mission was to assist as many of my friends and neighbors with converting to coal.
The ones who listened have coal stoves now.
The ones who did not heed the advice now wish they did!
Some folks are too proud to take assistance of any kind so...you just help them out from behind the scenes.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Fri. Aug. 29, 2008 12:03 am

If you know someone specific you can always go get a few tubes of caulk for a few bucks for around drafty doors and windows, maybe some plastic sheeting for the windows and a roll or two of insulation for putting in strategic spots like the space between the sill and the floor along the foundation that is rarely insulated on older homes. The caulking and sheeting alone can cut down heating costs drastically. I believe on the news they quoted as much as 30%.

As a whole I'm not sure what we can do, I actually thought about doing something similar like raising funds for single needy family for Christmas but since the membership here is from such a wide area I'm not so sure there would be much interest in benefiting one local family here or elsewhere. I don't trust nor will I use large charities so that is out of the question.

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Fri. Aug. 29, 2008 1:03 am

Time and talent pool.
Good variety of skills here.
Maybe something along the lines of a work weekend for someone who needs some help with a house project they can not afford to pay for or do themselves.
Could be as simple as building a coal bin or giving the boiler a clean out.

 
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Post by djackman » Fri. Aug. 29, 2008 3:48 am

Devil505 wrote:Good points Yanche & I think we actually do provide a service already by just sharing information & experience on how we heat with coal. Another thing someone with an old, unused stove could do would be to donate it to an elderly person or home & provide physical assistance with it's operation & maybe share some coal.
IIRC hearth.com was doing something along these lines last year or two. Although "elderly person" and "solid fuel" don't exactly go together :D

$50 of weatherstrip and insulation goes a long way, does a lot of good, and no/minimal legal risk for the voulenteering installer. So many people hit doors/windows but miss the big gaps at the top of the foundation in the basement.

 
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Post by Freddy » Fri. Aug. 29, 2008 6:28 am

I like the caulking a neighbors house idea. Have gun, will caulk!
Richard S. wrote:I don't trust nor will I use large charities
My Dad's favorite chairty, and now mine. http://www.foodforthepoor.org They spend less than 4% on administraion and advertising. Over 96% of all income buys goods and gets them to those that need it. Donate once & you will receive things in the mail about 4 times a year. We have learned to ignore them & donate on our own schedule. Each year at Christmas we go wild a bit wild and buy pigs or a sheep for someone in Guatamala or Honduras. It's amazing how far dollars will go with them.
While on this subject, mu least favorite charity is the Make a Wish Foundation. Every time I see them send some kid to Disneyworld I say to my self : If they asked that kid, "What would you rather do with this money, go to Disney, or build a house for a homeless family and feed them for 5 years"..... What do you think the answer would be?

 
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Post by onehotxfirefighter » Fri. Aug. 29, 2008 7:55 am

Just thought I would post the following link to you all in which I listened to the story of Lucia the 87 year old talk SPORT listener who telephoned Mike Thomas aka debt wizard on the David Prefer Show on talk SPORT Radio at 3.20 in the morning on Monday, 18th August 2008. The content of the conversation provoked many calls, texts and emails from listeners, angry at the way Lucia claims she has been treated and they all offered support.

You can hear the distressing call on the audio player at
http://www.debtwizard.com/site/080819_-_Lucia_87_ ... tener.html

Its all about this old lady who has bother with her Electricity supplier and her home heating

 
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Post by Devil505 » Fri. Aug. 29, 2008 8:24 am

Cap wrote:Devil, you may send a check to St Nicholas Parish here in PA. I'll match your check and see to it, it is donated to an elderly Grandma or Pa living here in rural PA. Send me a PM for the address.
Sarcasm aside, I don't think most of us here are in a financial position to simply open their checkbooks & hand out money to any charity, that was not my point at all. (What we are not is a forum consisting of lazy, bored billionaires searching for fun things to do with our money!)
There are allot of coal heat veterans on this forum & many here are experts in plumbing, ventilation etc. My point is how can we use the talents we have here to help the truly needy survive this winter. There have been some pretty good suggestions already & I was thinking along the lines of maybe starting a new topic where time sensitive situations could be addressed quickly for heat related problems/suggestions when the cold weather arrives.....that kind of thing.


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