In January of 2008, an elderly woman in Opelika called Leigh Warren, the health and community services manager for the Lee County Red Cross, to ask for assistance in help paying her electricity bill. The woman said her power was being cut off that day. The problem was her husband was on a breathing machine. Warren told her to come straight to the Red Cross so they could keep this from happening.

Warren was able to get her bill paid for that day, but when the woman returned home, her power was turned off. A man came to the house to turn it off while she was gone. After four hours without power, the power company finally turned it back on. Consequently, the woman’s husband died two days later.

“I think this woman fell through the cracks,” Warren said. “This woman was an injustice. We must all try to work together to fill in the gaps of the system.”

This kind of problem is what numerous elderly and disabled people in the local community are facing. Much of this population live on low and fixed incomes, which make it extremely difficult to meet the rising prices of electricity.

Project SHARE (Service to Help Alabamians with Relief on Energy) and Warren are trying to help solve this problem. This program is a division of the Red Cross, which helps to meet the energy needs of people who are 62 or older or who are on 100 percent disability. Medical need has to be met in the cooling season because of the limited funds available.

Warren said, “We do this because we want to try to help people do the best job they can with what they have. Some of them feel like they have no hope and no resources, so we do the best job we can to help them.”

Clients are seen on Thursdays and can apply by calling the Red Cross. They will start making appointments on Dec. 15. The money is first come, first serve, and clients can only receive assistance once during the cooling season and once during the warming season. The Lee County Red Cross has assisted between 250-300 families this year through Project SHARE and has given more than $22,000 in aid money.

“They’re always so gracious and tell you how much they appreciate it and thank you all the way to the door,” Warren said. “That’s very humbling because we’re just vehicles that are distributing money that Alabamians have donated through their utility programs. This isn’t my money, this is people who’ve contributed to this program through their utility bills.”

For further information about Project SHARE, go to www.leeredcross.org or contact Leigh Warren at (334) 749-9981.


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