MOUNT VERNON – City utility customers can “Pour It Forward” to help their neighbors with their utility bills in a program suggested by a city employee.
Mount Vernon and The Salvation Army announced the Pour It Forward initiative will begin on July 1. Qualified utility customers can round up their bills to the following whole dollar amount. Those extra pennies will go toward paying the utility bills of residents who qualify for the assistance. The donating customers must have clean utility bills.
Pour It Forward is the brainchild of Kristen Goldner, an administrative assistant at Moundview Cemetery, who came up with the idea through the City’s Leadership Training Program. She singled out The Salvation Army for partnering with the City on this initiative.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with The Salvation Army on this program. They already have a tremendous structure for providing aid in our community, so their assistance with the Pour It Forward program has been fundamental in getting it started,” Goldner said.
Captain Christine Moretz of The Salvation Army of Mount Vernon said the organization always looks for ways to partner with other agencies for the betterment of the community.
“Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. With the Pour It Forward program, we will be able to assist our friends and neighbors in need because of the generous donations of our community,” she said.
Beginning July 1, the City’s utility customers can contact the City’s Water Billing Office to start donating by:
• Calling the office at 740-393-9504 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday and speaking with a customer support specialist.
• Emailing their request to utilitycs@mountvernonohio.org.
Those who donate will see their bills automatically rounded up to the following whole dollar amount each month, which will be itemized on the invoice. Participants can leave the program anytime via the same method they joined.
To receive utility bill assistance, residents should call The Salvation Army of Mount Vernon at 740-392-8716 for complete guidelines, applications and approval. To participate, the resident’s total household income cannot exceed 300% of the federal poverty level (FPL), which varies depending on the number of people in the household. For an individual living alone, 300% of the FPL is currently $43,740. The resident’s utility bill must also be in disconnect status, and the applicant’s name and applicants can only be assisted once in a rolling, 12-month period.
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