FREEPORT – For the 10th year, community members concerned with the plight of people who can’t afford to heat their homes will stand outside for 24 hours in the middle of February to collect donations to buy fuel.

Freeport Community Services and First Parish Church Congregational will collaborate in the “Freeze Out,” which runs from 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, until 10 the next morning, in front of the church on 40 Main St.

Susan Mack, family services coordinator for Freeport Community Services and organizer of the Freeze Out event, is an old hand at this. Mack has been participating since John Ward-Diorio, the former church pastor, started the event.

“We did it because it’s a crazy idea,” Mack said. “It’s crazy enough to get people’s attention. It’s cold, but it gives you a warm feeling.”

Back when Ward-Diorio and Mack started doing the Freeze Out, they collected about $1,000 to purchase heating oil for people who could not afford it. Last year, they raised $15,000 for the Carol Kaplan Fuel Fund.

“Our goal is $15,000 again this year, but I’ll tell you, it’s an uphill climb,” Mack said.

Mack said a record 100 families are looking for help through the Kaplan Fuel Fund, named in memory of a Freeport woman known for helping people in need. Vouchers for the fund are funneled through Freeport Community Services, she said. All the money donated during the Freeze Out will go toward fuel, as well as food, for families in Freeport and Pownal, Mack said.

There’s a greater need for fuel assistance this year because the government-funded Low Income Heating Eligibility Assistance Program is stalled, Mack said.

“They are way behind at LIHEAP,” she said. “They are months behind. We have mostly people who have no place to turn. I will put 50 gallons of fuel into their tanks until LIHEAP comes through.”

Paula O’Brien and Patti Bruce are the “stalwarts” who always stand with her at the Freeze Out, Mack said. Mack’s son, 23-year-old Jamie Rodel, also will be chilling. So will member of Boy Scouts Troop 58, and anyone else who chooses to join in the cause. Some people don’t make it through the night, but their efforts are appreciated, Mack said.

Mack said that the four of them will stay out all night, except for brief trips inside the church to use the facilities. They will use the church’s creche to brace themselves against the wind.

“I start to freeze up pretty early,” she said. “The worst part at night is the wind.”

Nash Holley, a member of Boy Scouts Troop 58, knows all about that. When Holley participated in his first Freeze Out last year, the wind blew one of the Scouts’ tents into the street.

“The wind was blowing 30 miles an hour,” said Holley, 12, son of Cathy and Lex Holley. “It was really cold. It was the first time I ever got to sleep in my snow clothes.”

His mother is proud, naturally, and impressed, as well.

“I wouldn’t want to be the chaperone on that night, that’s for sure,” Cathy Holley said.

Nash Holley said that he and his fellow Scouts were able to sleep a little bit in their tents, but mostly they were standing for the 24-hour stint. Cold as he was, Holley feels good about doing it again this Saturday.

“It feels nice because there are people in Maine who don’t have heating and they don’t have food, either,” he said. “We’re raising awareness.”

Mack thanked Gritty McDuff’s, Norway Savings Bank, Martin’s Point Health Care, Cedar Inn and Wind Point Foundation for sponsoring the Freeze Out. In addition to the Boy Scouts, the Freeport High School Interact Club and the Rotary Club are pitching in.

“It’s growing into the kind of thing that I envisioned,” Mack said. “I never wanted it to be just Sue Mack standing out in the cold. I wanted it to be a community thing.”

Susan Mack, left, family services coordinator for Freeport Community Services, and Paula O’Brien are ready for the elements as they prepare for a recent Freeze Out, which raises money for people in need of heating fuel and food.  

Copy the Story Link