BRATTLEBORO-The Vermont Jazz Center (VJC) is hosting a benefit concert for the Windham County Heat Fund Saturday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jazz Center on Cotton Mill Hill.
The concert will celebrate the 80th birthday of bassist Cameron Brown, who has been teaching at the VJC’s Summer Jazz Workshop since 2006. His contributions and “historic legacy” will be honored as he and his New York–based band perform, wrote organizers in a news release.
“The 21st year of the Windham County Heat Fund has made it clear that we can no longer be satisfied with past levels of funding. Federal fuel assistances programs are under assault by the Trump administration,” said Heat Fund co-Chair Richard Davis. “Low-income Americans are being assaulted on multiple fronts by their own government. As the U.S. economy has widened the gap between the haves and have nots, average Americans struggle to pay their bills. Paying for fuel to heat their homes often takes a back seat to paying the rent, buying food and medicine and paying for other basic necessities.”
The fund’s goal has always been to raise $50,000 a year, and Davis wrote that “it looks like we will exceed that this year. Over the past 20 years, we have raised over one million dollars and provided help in about 2,000 cases, whether individuals or families. But that goal may prove to be too low as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is in the sights of the Trump administration for elimination.”
Davis fears that if LIHEAP is eliminated, “there will be no federal fuel assistance. The state of Vermont receives $21 million each year. There are 14 counties in the state, and if distribution is based on that number equally, our county would need $1.5 million to make up the shortfall. The Heat Fund is exploring ways to supplement its fundraising in preparation for a worst-case scenario for next year’s heating season.”
The fund administrators ask people in need to fill out an application. They will try to vet all applications as best they can, collaborating with Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) and other human service organizations.
“We work closely with the frontline people in the offices of local fuel dealers,” Davis wrote. “They are unofficial social workers, and they know many of the trials and tribulations of their customers.”
During the 2024–25 heating season, the heat fund received $53,836 from 113 donors, including 105 individuals, seven corporations, one church, and three grantees. Fuel assistance was given to 107 individuals or families, and it paid $49,624.09 for all kinds of fuel.
“We only give money to fuel dealers, not individuals,” Davis wrote. “Most years, we have no overhead because we take no salary and we pay for things such as stamps out of our own pockets.”
Donations can be made through Venmo; by sending a check to the Windham County Heat Fund, 63 Cedar St, Brattleboro, VT 05301; or directly at Brattleboro Savings & Loan.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.