Charity warms the hearts of many

Annual Woodyard Fund campaign helps pay heating bills of the needy

When Salvation Army officials look to the winter months, their thoughts turn to people like Joan Jones.

The 75-year-old Gaston woman is among an all-too-common group of Midlands residents who often must choose among food, medicine or heating their homes. For Jones, the choice was complicated recently by a pancreatic tumor that required extensive surgery and an extended hospital stay.

She’s one of many people the Salvation Army hopes to help keep the heat on this winter. And the agency will look to the community to help as it begins the annual Woodyard Fund drive this week.

“It’s the difference in having a warm, lighted home and sitting in the dark for so many families,” Salvation Army Capt. Ethan Frizzell said of the fund that helps needy families pay their power bills.

Last winter, area residents donated $125,340 to the Woodyard Fund, which helped pay energy bills for about 415 families. The Salvation Army will begin taking applications next week for those who are in need.

Frizzell anticipates that the most pressing needs will come from elderly residents whose retirement and Social Security benefits have not kept pace with rising energy costs.

“Those are the ones who call us first,” Frizzell said. “People’s incomes just aren’t keeping up. Those gaps (between income and monthly obligations) are just going to be there, and the Woodyard Fund is just one way to fill those gaps.”

While some who seek assistance require help with money management, Frizzell said the vast majority simply do not have the resources to make ends meet.

“It’s often the working poor that the Woodyard Fund helps because they just get in a heating bind,” he said.

It’s a bind The Woodyard Fund has been working to ease for years. The fund traces its origins to 1816 when the Ladies’ Benevolent Society provided firewood and, later, coal to needy families. The society turned management of the charity over to the Salvation Army around the turn of the 20th century.

In 1930, William E. Gonzales, then editor of The State newspaper, began publicizing the fund and those it helped, a tradition the paper continues each winter.

Through the fund, eligible households get vouchers redeemable at businesses that provide heating services. The Salvation Army reimburses the businesses for the amounts of the vouchers.

While donations were down last year, Frizzell is confident area residents will respond to the needs of the community.

“There is a good spirit of cooperation here,” he said.

The Salvation Army screens applicants to make sure there are legitimate needs. Applicants are selected based on income level, illness or other special circumstances.

The Woodyard Fund serves residents in Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Newberry counties and usually runs from late November through March, when temperatures generally are the lowest.

WOODYARD FUND

FOR HELP: Area residents who need assistance with heating bills can visit the Salvation Army at 2025 Main St., Columbia, or call (803) 765-0260, ext. 102, to apply.

TO HELP: Donations to the Woodyard Fund can be mailed to Woodyard Fund, c/o The State newspaper, P.O. Box 1333, Columbia, SC 29202. Make checks payable to “Woodyard Fund.” All donations are tax-deductible.

NEXT WEEK: The State newspaper will begin running a weekly list of Woodyard Fund contributors.