DIXFIELD ( AP) — The owner of a Maine home heating oil delivery company says he has received at least $100,000 in donations since his company was mentioned in a New York Times article about people struggling to keep their homes warm.
Ike Libby of Hometown Energy in Dixfield says he’s spent almost all his time since Saturday’s article opening envelopes with gifts of as much as $5,000 and answering his phones from people across the country pledging to help out.
In the article, he said he’d delivered oil to homes of people he knew could not pay him.
Libby says he will use the donations to set up a trust fund to help people pay for oil.
The federal government made steep cuts this winter to its low-income heating assistance program.
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