Fund helps keep utilities on for three generations

A Richland County household with three generations found help after seeing a spike in its electric bill.

Karen Goodwin of Hopkins said she has a pending disability claim but currently has no income. The home she shares with her mother and her child saw a much higher than normal electric bill recently because of extremely cold temperatures.

The high bill came months after the Oct. 4 heavy rains damaged the roof of her home. She said her utility bill was due Feb. 12 and she was facing utility cutoff Friday.

“It’s like one thing after another,” she said.

Goodwin sad she has to have electricity in her home and keep a heater on because of her son’s health problems.

Goodwin said she heard about the Salvation Army of the Midlands’ Woodyard Fund through The State newspaper and sought help paying her utility bills.

Goodwin said she felt “blessed” when the Woodyard Fund approved her request.

“It was a blessing when (The Woodyard Fund) called me,” she said. “... That made a big difference when they paid the full amount of my bill. Hopefully I can bounce back and get back on budget.”

Because of how much the fund helped her family, Goodwin encourages anyone able to donate to do so.

“I don’t know what we would do at the end of the month if it wasn’t for the (Woodyard Fund),” she said. “I really appreciate the help, truly.”

The Woodyard Fund helps residents in crisis in Richland, Lexington, Fairfield and Newberry counties pay for utilities. The fund dates to 1816, when the Ladies Benevolent Society provided firewood and coal to families in need. In 1930, The State newspaper’s editor, William E. Gonzales, began publicizing the fund. It became a tradition the newspaper continues every winter.

This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Fund helps keep utilities on for three generations."