EMPTY STOCKING FUND: Catholic charities helps keep heat on

An apparent mix-up with Colorado Springs Utilities left Shannon and her three children without power for two days.

Shannon, 26, and a friend had gone to Utilities to pay her bill in cash, but the company didn’t have a record of her paying it and cut her power, she said. Shannon couldn’t find the receipt to show she paid. Only her first name is being used to protect her privacy.

She woke up one morning with a notice on her door that the power had been cut, she said. Her neighbors let her run an extension cord from her home to theirs.

“It was the first cold day we had in October,” she said. “I had a space heater, TV and light plugged into the extension cord so we’d be all cuddly in our home.”

The first night the neighbor’s breaker blew, cutting power to the cord. The neighbor wasn’t home, so Shannon and her three kids — 1, 3 and 6 — ate dinner in the dark.

“It was too cold inside, so I put the kids in the car and drove around for a few hours to keep them warm,” she said.

After calling several agencies, she was referred to James Dixon at Catholic Charities of Colorado Springs, which offers emergency and transition services to people in need.

Dixon, manager of Marian House Community Outreach, met Shannon at Utilities to pay her $245 bill.

“I cried when I met him. I was so emotional. I told him ‘God bless’ and said thank you, and I started crying, then he started crying,” Shannon said.

Catholic Charities is one of 14 area charities receiving grants from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund. The agency also runs the Marian House Soup Kitchen, which serves up to 600 people each day.

Dixon has called Shannon a few times to make sure she and her children are doing OK and to ask if they need anything like diapers or food.

“He’s awesome,” Shannon said. “He’s a very loving person and has such a great heart.”
 

Details:
To make a secure online donation, go to www.fillanemptystocking.org. You can also cCall 476-1673 to make a credit card or stock donation over the phone. Checks can be made payable to the Empty Stocking Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 400, Colorado Springs, CO 80901.