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Community Warmth Program donations down from 2017

Mar 4, 2019 | 8:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Medicine Hat City Council received an update on the local Community Warmth Program during their meeting on Monday.

The program allows hatters to include $1 on their monthly utility bills to help those struggling to pay their own bill.

Those who receive the donation are eligible if they’ve received a Disconnect Warning Notice and haven’t received assistance from the community warmth program in the last year. They also must be willing to meet with The Salvation Army to fill out an application and provide a proof of income for all the household members for the year.

The program has been running since 2010, and in that time a total of $168,621 has been donated to 396 local families.

“That extra dollar on your utility bill is $12 a year,”says Mayor Ted Clugston. “Put that together with 10 other people doing that, that might help somebody.”

In 2018, a total of $23,543 helped 80 families with utility assistance. However, that’s down from 2017, where a total of $28,998 helped 62 local families.

The City does say in 2017 two large one-time donations were received, which could account for the spike.

“I’m almost positive that it was fundraisers,” says Clugston. “I think those base donations that people do every month have been fairly steady.”

Currently, 283 utility customers include monthly donations on their utility bills, contributing $1,796 a month to the program.

2019 annual utility bill contributions are expected to be $21,552, but the City has a goal to increase that to $23,000. That could be reached by adding 120 new monthly utility customers donating $1 per month.

For more information on the Community Warmth Program, visit www.medicinehat.ca/CommunityWarmth.