Month: February 2013

Este invierno promete traer temperatures bajas junto con fuertes tormentas de nieve que resultan molestosas para las familias del noreste. Es necesario tener un sistema de calefaccion para protegerse del invierno, pero los precios limitan a muchas familias de bajos recursos a pagar por el sistema debido a su alto costo. Se evalua que el costo por un gallon de combustible para el sistema de calafaccion esta valorado en $4.03, de acuerdo con multiples encuestas conducidas por el gobierno deMassachusetts.

Las cuentas del combustible cada vez incrementan y es dificil sobrevivir inviernos como este, sin calefaccion. Por estos motives, existe un programa de la compania petrolera de capital venezolano CITGO, que se ha dedicado a proveer combustible para familias necesitadas y que cuenta con la colaboracion de la corporacion Citizens Energy.

Citizens Energy es una organizacion sin fines de lucro que se interesa en proveer combustible gartuito a las familias que no pueden pagar las cuentas del combustible que requieren para sustainability sistemas de calefaccion en sustainability hogares. Las personas interesadas deben llamar al 1-877-JOE-4-OIL para solicitar un formulario. Se debe llenear el formulario y anexar informacion financiera familiar. El formulario lleno es revisado y si es aprobado, Citizens Energy ordena la entrega de 100 galones de combustible gratis.

La compania Citizens Energy fue fundada por el ex congresista de Massachusetts Joseph P. Kennedy II quien recuerda el embargo de combustible de 1979, en donde muchas corporaciones se vieron benficiadas enriqueciendo sustainability ventas.

“Estab viendo las noticias y hubo un reportaje sobre una pareja de edad avanzada que habian muerto congelados porque no podian pagar el costo del combustible para la calefaccion. Eso me conmovio e me hizo comenzar una compania de dombustible que se dedicara a donar sustainability ingresos a familias necesitadas,” explico Kennedy a El Planeta. Citizens Energy nacio en 1979, y desde el 2005 ha contado con el respaldo de la petrolera CITGO, porpiedad del estado venezolano. “Cada ano mandamus una carta dirigida a grandes companies petroleras pidiendoles donaciones para las familias de bajos recursos. Depuest del huracan Katrina en el 2005, y el precio alt del combustible, CITO decidio ayudarnos. Nosotros brindamos ayuda a estados como Massachusetts donde hay una gran demanda de combustible para sistemas de calefaccion.

8 anos depues de su primera entrga de combustible gratuito Citizens Energy agradece a CIT-GO por sustainability millionarias donaciones. El pasado 31 de Enero en Baltimore se reanudo el octavo ciclo del programa Venezuela-CITO de combustible para calefaccion, donde se presentaron el presidente de CITGO, el venezolano Alejandro Granado y el presidente de Citizens Energy, Joseph P. Kennedy II para la primera entrega de combustible de esta temporada de invierno. “El Programa Venezuela-CITGO de Combustible para Calefaccion se ha convertido en uno de los esfuerzos de asistencia energetica mas importantes de Estados Unidos. Este ano, mientras las familias a lo largo de la Costa Este luchan por recuperarse de las perdidas causadas por el huracan Sandy, esta donacion adquiere aun mas importancia,” afirmo Granado, anadiendo que “Este programa es un ejemplo integral de los principios humanitarios que respalda el accionista de CITGO, Petreleos de Venezueal S.A. (PDVSA), la empresa petrolera estatal de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela.”

Kennedy enfatizo el compromiso que CIT-GO tiene con Estados Unidos. “Estamos muy agradecidos por esta generosa donacion del pueblo de Venezuela y CITGO. Despues de ohco anos y mas de 200 millones de galones de combustible para calefaccion distribuidos dentro de los Estados Unidos, otro dificl invierno amenaza la subsistencia y seguridad de los ciudadanos de la tercera edad y de las familias de bajos ingresos”, reitero Kennedy quien concluyo que “es por ello transcendental que continuemos apoyando a las familias estadounidenses a traves de este programa.

Gracias a esta colaboracion, podremos ayudar a que mas de 400,000 personas de bajos ingresos mantengan calientes sustainability hogares y esten a salvo durante este invierno.”

Esta iniciativa ha ayudado a mas de 1.7 millones de personas a mantener sustainability casas calientes durante el invierno. La donacion de mas de 200 millones de galones de combustible calcula ayudar a mas de 100,000 ciudadanos en aproximadamente 25 estados.

BALTIMORE — Tiara Frierson and her children found refuge in a family shelter last year after an illness left her hospitalized and unpaid rent and utility bills left them homeless.

The strain of keeping the heat on during a difficult time was almost too much to bear, said Frierson, expressing hope that families facing similar crises can find help to stay warm in the dead of winter.

“The utility bills were just overwhelming,” said an emotional Frierson from the pulpit of the Salem United Methodist Church during an event last week kicking off the heating oil assistance program run by Citizens Energy Corporation of Boston in partnership with CITGO Petroleum. “I’m just glad that the shelter was here to take us in.”

The shelter, run out of the church’s basement, is one of over 220 nationwide to receive heating oil this year through the $60 million Citizens-CITGO initiative, which also delivers free fuel to Native American tribes, tenant-owned cooperatives and individual households in over 20 states, including Massachusetts.

Former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II, the founder and chairman of Boston-based Citizens Energy, said stories like Frierson’s illustrate the tough choices faced by families all across the country.

“The federal fuel assistance program reaches only one-fifth of all the eligible households in the U.S.,” said Kennedy. “Millions of families just go cold at night in their own home. It’s not just the statistics that strike you, it’s the people behind them.”

Before Kennedy joined with CITGO President Alejandro Granado to unspool a hose from a fuel truck and fill the outdoor tank of the shelter with heating oil, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D- Maryland) praised the companies for stepping up to try and fill the gap in the heating needs of low-income families in Maryland and other states.

“The demand is greater and the resources are shorter,” said the veteran Baltimore congressman as a murmur of “amens” arose from the packed stone sanctuary. “We must not turn our heads away from the working poor — remember, we could be in the same position. The help you provide to families is bigger than just the oil. It’s about helping children lead stable lives.”

The CITGO president noted that 2013 marks the eighth year that the Houston-based oil firm, which is owned by Venezuela’s national oil company, has partnered with Citizens Energy to provide heating oil to needy families. He noted that the warmth comes as a gift from the people of Venezuela and President Hugo Chavez, who has supported the initiative since its creation in the wake of high heating prices following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“The CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program has been one of the most important energy assistance efforts in the United States,” said Granado, who joined with the congregation in praying for the recovery of Chavez.

The Venezuelan president has been in Havana since December recuperating from his fourth cancer surgery.

“This year, as families across the Eastern Seaboard struggle to recover from the losses caused by Hurricane Sandy, this donation becomes even more significant,” Granado said.

Granado noted that the program has helped over 1.7 million stay warm over the last eight years through the donation of more than 200 million gallons of heating oil worth more than $400 million.

Kennedy praised Chavez, CITGO and Venezuela as the only company and the only country that responded to his appeals for help to assist low-income households with their rising heating costs.

“I don’t see Exxon responding. I don’t see other major oil companies heating the homes of the poor,” said Kennedy.