http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168131&zoneid=500BANGOR, Maine - The two words Maine Community Action Association President Matthew Smith hears most when he asks those at the forefront of helping Maine families get heating fuel assistance are "fear" and "desperation."
"People are fearful and they are desperate," Smith said in a telephone interview Thursday, hours after a news conference during which he released a series of federal and state recommendations aimed at helping families make it through this winter — and the many more to come.
With the cost of heating fuel up from $1.06 a gallon during the 2002-03 heating season to a projected $5.04, an increase of about 375 percent, it is clear to Smith and the 10 regional community action programs that make up the statewide association that something has to be done, and now.
The association’s recommendations were borne out of a couple of brainstorming sessions and were refined by e-mail, Smith said. Members formally adopted them last week.With 80 percent of the state’s households heating with oil, the impact of the spike in oil prices will be felt far and wide, he said.
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