The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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—they're just out there helping the people that need our help." He said that anyone can nominate someone to receive help from the OHC program, but most of their work comes from within OESP. "Almost everything we do comes out of the OESP chapters. Whether it comes from a member's company and one of the technicians finds something that needs to be replaced—that's usually where the leads come from," said Bessette. "Then what happens is a supervisor or myself will go out and look at the site and discuss with the homeowner what we could possibly do if they meet our criteria." He said the need is usually clear, so they don't get hung up on background checks or call up the homeowner's bank. "We don't go looking at financials or anything, everyone has a pretty good sense of whether someone is pulling your chain or not. You can look around and see that these people need help," said Bessette. "Then someone goes out and evaluates what we need to do and how we're going to do it. Then that person reports back to me and I put a small synopsis together and email it out to the board of directors. They give me their feedback, votes or questions." He said since the need is typically quite dire, they work as fast as they can. "Things turn around pretty quick. Usually within 48 hours of that email I have at least 10 members of the 12-member board as to whether it's a 'go' or not," said Bessette. He said there are a few rules for the projects beyond the need. "As a rule, it's a replacement of the heating appliance directly. And it's strictly oil that we do," said Bessette. "Even though a lot of us do gas, we strictly do oil." He said they install tanks if needed, and upgrade the oil line, wiring and everything, but the most common project is a boiler and burner. He said OHC is a great way to build a positive image for the industry. "Nobody in the gas industry does what the oil people do with Oil Heat Cares does. A gas company never donates a piece of equipment and the installation. The PHCC—a plumbing orga- nization that's made up of plumbers who are gas fitters—they don't do it," said Bessette. "This just raises the oil people a couple rungs up that ladder." He said manufacturers in the industry are always happy to help with projects. "We've had a lot of manufacturers donate equipment," said Bessette. "Brian Coyne form Rock Tank just says, 'Yup, you got a tank. Just tell me which supply house you want it to come out of.' Peerless has donated stuff, Energy Kinetics has donated stuff Weil-McClain — the list just goes on and on." As for fundraising, they take donations on their website at OilHeatCares.com and also hold fundraising events. "Every year we have an Oil Heat Cares ride. It first started out with Don Farrell, who is an avid bicyclist. He got some friends together and they got sponsors and they made this ride," said Bessette, noting that their fundraising has grown significantly in the past years. "Out of that grew a motorcycle ride; which we have almost every year," said Bessette. Both Bessette and Gonzalez say it's a lot of hard work some- times, but the gratitude from the homeowners is overwhelming. Williams was all smiles when the new boiler kicked on and he could finally unplug the space heaters. "He was very, very grateful," said Gonzalez. "They always are, by the way." "They think we're angels. A lot of them are elderly, many have illnesses they're dealing with so they just feel so blessed to have a group like ours go in there and help them and it not cost them anything," said Bessette. Despite that hard work for the installers, most volunteer for project after project. "Sometimes it's overwhelming for myself and the team doing the. You know, you're getting a note from this person who's just had someone who's done something nice for them. They may be elderly and never had a break in their life, and here they've got something they appreciate more than anything," said Bessette. "It really is a great feeling." You can get involved by donating funds or time. Ask your OESP chapter how to get involved and how to nominate needy homeowners for an Oil Heat Cares project. www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | MARCH 2015 27 BUSINESS OPERATIONS l F O N