With freezing temperatures and snowfall last week and this week, some people will find it hard to pay their bills when it comes to staying warm.

There are ways to help those people stay warm and pay their heating-related bills. Those ways are through the warmth of human kindness and energy-assistance programs.

Project HELP offers Washington Electric Utilities customers an opportunity to help those who have trouble with paying their heating bills during the winter (and cooling bills in the summer). It’s a program worthy of support, especially during this time of the year.

“Project HELP is a program started by the city. We are now partnering with (Society of) St. Vincent de Paul and The Salvation Army. What it is is a program that the city contributes to help assist customers who are having some problems with their utility bills,” explains Andrea McGee, one of the city’s customer-service representatives.

“I think it’s a fairly popular program. I’m not exactly sure how many people we have participating,” she said.

Project HELP raises money to provide that assistance in three ways. First, Washington Electric Utilities customers may round up their utility bills to the nearest dollar amount, with the difference between the amount of the bill and the rounded-up dollar amount going to Project Help. Second, a Washington Electric Utilities customer may make a lump-sum donation to Project HELP. Third, a Washington Electric Utilities customer may designate a specific amount to be added to his or her monthly utility bill, with that designated amount going to Project Help.

Contributions are tax deductible. WEU customers are not the only ones making donations to the program.

The City of Washington’s electric fund donates $10,000 a year to Project HELP, said Matt Rauschenbach, the city’s chief financial officer and assistant city manager. The city allocates $5,000 to Project HELP in July of each year for use during hot months and $5,000 in December for use during cold months, according to Rauschenbach.

Utility customers contribute slightly over $4,000 during a 12-month period, which equates to about $340 a month, Rauschenbach said.

“We split the funds evenly between The Salvation Army and (Society of) St. Vincent de Paul, which is a Catholic charity. They distribute vouchers to their clients based on need. They have staff to screen based on need. Then, they distribute the money,” Rauschenbach said. “Whenever we accumulate a certain amount of funds, we’ll write checks — half of it to St. Vincent de Paul and the other half to The Salvation Army.”

The two agencies determine who receives assistance, he said. Those who are selected do not receive cash to apply toward their utility bills.

“The clients will come in with a voucher and we will apply that voucher to their utility bills,” Rauschenbach said.

We applaud such a system because it makes sure the money is spent to meet energy needs and not on anything else. So as those freezing temperatures return this week, consider doing something as warm-hearted as making a contribution to Project HELP.

For more information about Project HELP, call the City of Washington at 252-975-9300 or stop by City Hall, 102 E. Second St., Washington.