Citgo will once again donate heating fuel to tribal residents

HOGANSBURG — Though spring fever is setting in, heating help is still on the way to the St. Regis Mohawk tribe.

For the third year in a row, the tribe will receive funds from Venezuelan government-owned Citgo. Qualified applicants will receive approximately 100 gallons of free home heating fuel to help get them through the winter, according to the tribe.

Other than the five boroughs of New York City, the tribe is the only community in the state to receive help, according to Citgo officials.

"It's for tribes in the north for whom heating becomes a survival issue," said David T. Staddon, director of public information for the tribe. "We are the northernmost tribe in the state."

This is the program's fifth year. Communities are awarded funds based on an application of need, Mr. Staddon said. He could not say how much money the tribe has been awarded this year.

Last year, the tribe received about $1 million, which worked out to be approximately $250 per qualified household, according to a tribal press release.

"This is a great help to our community members who often struggle to pay energy bills in the winter," Chief Monica M. Jacobs said in a statement.

The program will devote the financial equivalent of 26 million gallons of fuel to 157,000 households, 245 homeless shelters and 250 American Indian tribes in 25 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Citgo Web site.

It has been scaled back compared with years past; this year, aid will reach the smallest number of households since it began, according to the Citgo Web site. Last year, funds to buy 49 million gallons of fuel were donated to the program, reaching 202,000 families.

In the program's first year, the winter of 2005-06, money for 8 million gallons was donated to 181,000 families across eight states.

The program is based on need; people must fill out an application to be included. Applications for tribe members will be available beginning today until April 16 at the community building and senior center. Application assistance will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and again from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and March 4 at the senior center.