It's hard, but not impossible, to stay warm

Our Opinion

Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

People right here in Calvert County are sitting in cold homes, barely able to afford to heat them – if they can afford it all.

According to Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, more people are behind on their electric bills than in years past, although SMECO did not provide solid numbers. And herein lies the problem: We don't know how many of our neighbors are suffering in the cold, ashamed to ask for help.

And it's not just electricity bills that are falling behind. Many Calvert homes have oil heat, and even with a drop in gas prices, it seems to be taking a while for the home heating oil to catch up. Today is supposed to be a fairly warm day, but the last couple of weeks have been bitterly cold — the kind of cold that hurts your teeth if you try to smile. That's the kind of cold that can't really be kept out of your house — it creeps in, even when all the doors and windows are shut tight. Even with the heat on, you still need fuzzy slippers and flannel sheets.

Last year, as the summer turned to fall, many people in Calvert County came together for a project called End Hunger in Calvert. There were donations of food and money, and the county came together to help those less fortunate.

Heat is just as necessary. Families need to keep warm just as much as they need to eat.

The good news is, there are ways to get help. SMECO will not cut off power from October to April, but their customers are still responsible for the bill that will just continue to add up over the winter. And paying a bill for one month is easier than paying a bill for four months. SMECO is working to help people with those bills, but donations to the program that is in place have been lagging this year.

Southern Maryland Tri-County Community Action Committee Inc. has been busy for months trying to help everyone who needs it.

We all know the economy is bad, and people are suffering more than they have for generations. For the most part, though, we've been lucky here in Calvert. Our unemployment rate has not been hit as hard as much of the country, and home values have not fallen as far.

But most people having jobs does nothing for the people who are not working, or are making less money than in the past, or have lost their home to foreclosure.

SMTCCAC and SMECO are not the only organizations that are trying to help; they are just a small portion of the churches and aid organizations in this county and state that are here for us. The best thing that we can do, as average citizens, is find ways to donate — even a little bit — to those organizations.

And most of all, look for those who need help. There is no reason our neighbors should suffer, and there is no reason they should be ashamed, but they might not ask for help. Sometimes, we need to ask them if we can help.