A mother caring for four children and her disabled father was among those helped with heating their homes recently thanks to donations to the annual Coal Fund Campaign.

The fundraising campaign, which began on Thanksgiving, will continue through Dec. 31, although contributions are welcomed year-round.

The Coal Fund seeks donations from individuals, churches, civic organizations, and businesses to help fellow Greene Countians who would otherwise be unable to heat their homes during the winter months.

The campaign has for decades been sponsored by The Greeneville Sun, and administered without any charge by Greeneville-Greene County Community Ministries.

Community Ministries, a United Way agency established and sponsored for many years by the Greeneville-Greene County Ministerial Association, also administers the Food Bank, which assists local citizens in need of food.

Carmen Ricker, executive director of Community Ministries, said recently that she fears the needy will have great difficulty this winter heating their homes because of the economic downturn.

As a result, Ricker said, every penny that Community Ministries can raise likely will be needed to meet what is expected to be increased demand for home-heating assistance this winter.

Among those who have been assisted with heating costs recently thanks to contributions to the Coal Fund campaign, Ricker said, was a family of six, including a mother who is caring for four small children and her disabled father.

"She cannot work because she is caring for one very small child and their only income is her disabled father's disability check," Ricker said of the mother. "They were barely able to meet their financial responsibilities before winter hit."

As a result, Ricker said, the mother came to Community Ministries seeking help in purchasing kerosene with which to heat the family's home.

"We were happy we were able to help because they do without so many things that the rest of us take for granted," Ricker said.

A second family that recently received help from Community Ministries in heating their home, thanks to contributions to the Coal Fund Campaign, consisted of a young mother and three "very small" children, according to Ricker.

"She is mentally challenged and cannot work outside the home," Ricker said. "If she was able to find employment, she could not afford the cost of child care."

Ricker said the mother is struggling financially and was unable to pay her electric bill.

Fortunately, Ricker said, Community Ministries was able, thanks to contributions to the Coal Fund Campaign, to help pay the electric bill so the mother could keep her children warm.

In order to help as many families as possible with the available contributions, Coal Fund assistance for all forms of heating, except coal, is limited to $120 per family once during the heating season.

The cost of a ton of coal, however, has increased to $150 (plus $25 for delivery) from the nearest coal supplier, who is in Rogersville, Ricker said. The recipient of the coal must pay the $25 delivery fee, she noted.

Wood for home heating this year costs about $60 per load, with a limit of two loads from the Coal Fund, Ricker said.

Assistance from the fund to those who heat their homes with electricity, natural gas, and propane is limited to $120 this year, the same as was the case a year ago.

In earlier years, she noted, the amount of heating assistance Community Ministries was able to offer as the result of Coal Fund donations was based on a value equal to, or near, the price of 100 gallons of home heating oil or kerosene.

But that way of calculating the amount of aid per season changed two years ago, she explained, when the price of heating oil and kerosene rose dramatically.

The same $120 amount, she said, will be paid toward the residential propane, natural gas, or electricity bills of approved Coal Fund applicants.

Ricker said that Community Ministries staff members screen applicants for both food assistance and heating assistance to ensure that they meet stringent program guidelines.

She said Community Ministries first tries to assist families with small children, and individuals who are ill or who are 70 years or older.

Gifts to the Coal Fund Campaign totaling $7,272 have been received between the last report, which went through on Dec. 26, and the new report, which went through Tuesday, Dec. 30, according to Ricker.

When added to the $127,869.30 that had been received as of Dec. 26, the recent donations have brought the campaign total, as of Tuesday, to $135,141.30, she said.

Recent contributions received include:

* Corley's Pharmacy in Recognition of Our Employees Bill Corley and Jackie Love, $300;

* Faith Promise at Asbury United Methodist Church, $200;

* Hattie Bryant Circle of Friendship Baptist Church, $100;

* In Honor of Dick, Donna, Sylvia, Lloyd, Chuck, Angi, $100;

* Timer & Anna Lee White, $100;

* Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Miller, $100;

* Dana Williams, $20;

* In Honor of Peter Hodges by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church Council Choir, $30;

* In Memory of My Dear Friend Frances Hartsell Evans by Dorothy Humphreys, $50;

* The Friendship Class of First Baptist Church, $200;

* Anonymous, $50;

* In Honor of Our Sisters, Marjorie L. Stimer & Margaret R. Miller by Neal & Robyn Holladay, $100;

* In Honor of Ted & Louise Wilhoit by Jim & Eva, $200;

* Anonymous, $120;

* In Honor of David Herman Johnson by Mary F. Johnson, $100;

* Jean Hagenburger, $20;

* Jimmy & Elizabeth Shanks, $100;

* Pleasant Hill & Jearoldstown Family & Community Education Club, $25;

* Anonymous, $50;

* Greeneville City Schools Central Office, $215;

* Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church, $887;

* Second Grade of Tusculum View Elementary School, $320;

* Stone Dam Mission Fund, $500;

* Journey Sunday School Class of Trinity United Methodist Church, $300;

* Ken and Kate Hood, $100;

* In Honor of Mike Roberts, teacher of the Koinonia Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church, by George & Margaret Bradley, $100;

* Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church Men of Faith, $50;

* Robert & Catherine Brown, $50;

* Tom & Lesia Cotton, $100;

* First Presbyterian Church, The Jean Olson Class, $100;

* Charlotte Merkel, $200;

* Penny G'Fellers, $40;

* Danny, Sandra and Jordan Williams, $25;

* Zion Presbyterian Church Sunday School, $200;

* Charles & Eva Grey Hutchins, $200;

* Antioch United Methodist Church, $200;

* Mr. & Mrs. Carl Davenport, $200;

* George C. Mays, $200;

* Anonymous, $100;

* In Honor of Grandsons Brady & Carson Quillen, $500;

* Mt. Pleasant Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Love Loaf Offering), $100;

* Staff of the First Presbyterian Church, $185;

* Greene County Trustee's Office, $60;

* In Memory of Estel & Hazel Southerland, by the Family, $75;

* "little Ol' Farm," $50; and

* Anonymous, $250.

Readers who would like to contribute to the Coal Fund may do so by taking checks (payable to The Coal Fund) or cash directly to the Community Ministries office at 107 N. Cutler St. between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays.

Contributions also can be mailed to:

The Coal Fund

P.O. Box 545

Greeneville, TN 37744