Residents can apply for fuel assistance

Operation Fuel and its statewide network of fuel banks is now taking energy assistance applications for the upcoming heating season.

Families and individuals who are in financial crisis and need energy assistance should call 211 to find their closest fuel bank. Operation Fuel is the only organization in Connecticut that provides yearround emergency energy assistance statewide.

“More than 300,000 Connecticut households will be struggling to keep their homes warm this winter. Operation Fuel wants to help as many families and individuals as possible so they do not have to make the difficult choice of either paying for heat or paying for other basic necessities,” said Brenda Watson, Operation Fuel’s Acting Director, in a written statement.

This past fiscal year, Operation Fuel provided more than $3.3 million in energy assistance to nearly 7,900 households. Almost half of the people helped by the nonprofit were either elderly or children under the age of 18.

Watson said Operation Fuel also wants to remind everyone not to use unsafe heating sources this winter, including ovens and certain types of space heaters.

Now in its 40th year, Operation Fuel is a statewide nonprofit organization that provides emergency energy assistance year-round to lower-income working families and individuals, the elderly, and disabled individuals who are in financial crisis.

For more information on Operation Fuel or to make a donation, go to www.operationfuel.org. Donations also can be sent to Operation Fuel, 75 Charter Oak Avenue, Suite 2-240, Hartford, CT. 06106.