As many are weathering the winter weather, Kansas Gas Service and The Salvation Army are bringing the heat with the Share The Warmth program.
Designed to help Kansas families needing assistance, Share The Warmth is a partnership between The Salvation Army and Kansas Gas Service providing energy assistance to senior citizens, individuals with disabilities and those whose immediate financial resources simply cannot cover their home-heating expenses.
Manager of Public Relations for Kansas Gas Service Dawn Tripp says this program is designed to help low income Kansas residents with their home heating expenses and navigating the hardships with the current pandemic.
“These are unprecedented times that we’re in. Some people are experiencing loss of jobs, and they’ve never had to ask for assistance before. So we think this is a program that might be able to help them,” Tripp said. “It’s important to note that you don’t have to be a customer of Kansas gas service, you do not have to use natural gas to heat your home. It’s a program that is available to residents in the communities that are served by Kansas gas service, and we deliver safe, clean natural gas to more than 360 communities across the state.”
Tripp says she understands the community’s struggles through the pandemic, and implies that the more you use natural gas to stay warm, that then could equate to a higher bill, and for this reason she wants customers to be aware of the financial resources that are available.
“We don’t want them to let those bills pile up on them, and be more difficult for them to pay later. So if they will contact us, we can work with them,” Tripp said. “That is the primary message that I want to be sure that our customers know, that we are willing to work with them, we can set them up on payment arrangements, we can direct them to financial resources, and we have a dedicated page on our website, where they can go to find out more about the resources that are available to them.”
As more opportunities become available for those in need, Tripp referred to the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, or called LIEAP in Kansas, which is a federally funded program for those with low income, offering them support with their Evergy and/or Kansas Gas payments. https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/1557
To learn more about this program and/or contribute, visit KansasGasService.com or contact The Salvation Army at 1-816-756-5392, ext. 2.
