Cold sweets to help heat area homes

  WOODBRIDGE, Va. - With winter on the way, many low-income families will be struggling with their heating bills.

Virginia Dominion Power and Milwaukee Frozen Custard want to help those who apply to Dominion’s Energy Share program – the “last resort” for people who cannot afford to pay their electric bills.

“What we say to people is ‘Get your federal assistance, get your state assistance, get your assistance from churches, from nonprofit organizations and then if you still need help, then the Energy Share program is a catch all,’” said Dominion spokeswoman Le-ha Anderson.

It takes donations from local businesses, organizations and from Dominion’s customers to make the program work.

Last year Dominion was able to provide $7 million in assistance for those in need, but just $1 million of that came from donations. The utility kicked in the rest.

Of the donations made by Dominion’s customers, many wrote checks for more than they owed on their monthly bill. Anything extra goes directly into the Energy Share program, said Anderson.

But there’s also a sweet side to Energy Share.

Through today at each of the five Milwaukee Frozen Custard locations – one of them in Woodbridge – if you buy one custard, you get one free. Families with the custard craving can get 25 percent off their total order.

Additionally, the local chain will tabulate the sales from all of the stores from the last two weeks and then donate 30 percent of the difference to Energy Share.

It’s one more way company owner Al Casey is trying to give back to the community despite tough economic times.

“We’ve seen a 25 percent reduction in sales. It’s ice cream, and of course, if you don’t have money it’s like the last thing you are going to buy. But at some point, even if you don’t have money, you’ve got to take the kids out someplace. Why not take them out for an ice cream cone?” said Casey.

He recently closed his store in Manassas, and says his Woodbridge location is not as busy as he would like.

By partnering with Dominion, he has also allowed Dominion employees to get a discount on their purchases in hopes they will treat their families to frozen custard.

Energy Share has been around for the past 28 years, and has donated $35 million in assistance to more than 180,000 families, said Anderson.

Energy Share participants must produce a utility shut-off notice before they can be enrolled into the program.

Anderson says requests for energy assistance for the coming winter should be filed now.

The Milwaukee Frozen Custard is at 13321 Worth Ave., in Woodbridge. In addition to Chantilly, there are other locations in Herndon, Ashburn and Leesburg.