Having a longstanding media relationship with a number of agencies that provide assistance to residents facing financial challenges compromising their ability to afford to heat their homes during the winter, it was more than concerning to learn this week that one of those agencies has been forced to temporarily deactivate.

With one of the warmer winters on record, it is alarming to imagine what might be happening had we experienced an unusually frigid heating season. Nonetheless, our community partners at Operation Fuel just announced that due to significant demand for energy assistance, they must pause their program through the end of March.

Chief Officer Brenda Watson said the decision was regrettable but she “had no choice,” especially since — as our colleague Patrick Skahill at CTPublic reports — demand escalated when Eversource raised its rates January 1. So far this program year, Operation Fuel has provided nearly $6,000,000 in energy assistance to 7,000 households, and it will use this temporary pause to “get through the backlog of roughly 3,000 assistance applications,” Watson explained.

The nonprofit will resume providing energy assistance on April 3, but to serve more households, it will be forced to reduce energy grants from $1,000 per household to $500. In the meantime, she said, anyone who needs energy assistance during March should contact their utility company or the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) by calling 211.

Natalie Jackson, our hometown frontline resource who helms the Newtown Human Services Department said her team has been under a similar strain. Jackson noted, however, that her avenue of assistance still has limited resources available, and she is working to handle emergency fuel assistance requests as best she can with the help and support of local charitable partners.

For those reading this from the cozy and warm confines of your home, if you can imagine a world where someone like your neighbor, your parents, your kids ... or grandkids are bundled up and still shivering from the cold in their insufficiently heated home, we hope you will consider helping by sending a check of any amount designated for “Home Heating Assistance” to Newtown Human Services Office, 3 Primrose Street, Newtown CT 06470.

From a more global perspective, there is also something really easy each of us who is enjoying a comfortably heated home can do. From now until June 25, donate to Operation Fuel through Traveler’s Birdies For Charity Program and receive a 15% match — just visit operationfuel.org/give-help to learn more. Or even more simply, check the box on your utility bill to “Add A Dollar” to support Operation Fuel each month and you are done.

If you are in Newtown and struggling with Eversource bills, you can call 800-286-2828 (electric) or 800-438-2278 (gas) to get started with assistance through either the utility’s Matching Payment Program, New Start Program, or with a bill credit for qualified moderate-income customers. There is also a Medical Protection program if anyone in your home is seriously ill or has a life-threatening situation.

It doesn’t cost a bundle to help folks stay warmer this winter — just a buck — or whatever you can afford to do to keep someone out of the cold.