July 27, 2016
Keeping St. Louis cool Learn & Play
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A grape idea
Community Voices
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By Ferguson Police Chief
Photo courtesy Cool Down St. Louis Marco Tipton, Ameren Missouri Customers Care Advisor volunteers during the annual Cooldownstlouis.org/Ameren Missouri Cooling Caravan with St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, both helped lift several of 640 donated energy efficient A/Cs into trucks and vans. Stenger, also an honorary co-chair of the regional, not-for-profit advocacy, public education and energy assistance charity also had the county to provide a grant of $250,000 for utility assistance for qualified seniors, disabled and low-to-moderate income residents in St. Louis County.
School
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Business
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Lessons in math and gardening
Cool Down St. Louis works to help the needy stay safe in dangerous summer heat By Sara Hardin With summer temperatures soaring, Cool Down St. Louis is working hard to spread their message about the importance of keeping cool. For 16 years the non-profit organization and its 100 percent volunteer-led board has used the support of donations and grants to help the needy stay safe in dangerous summer heat by offering refurbished air conditioning units and assistance in paying for utilities. Their current campaign, Check On Your Neighbors, encourages people to check on seniors, disabled adults or low-income individuals who may be stuck in a hot house with no way to pay their utility bill. “People are calling others to see if they’re okay, but calling is not the same as going to see somebody,” said Cool Down St. Louis Chairwomen, Melanie DiLeo. “We have so many people who live in brick houses, and they think that they will be fine if they just put a fan on. Well, all they’re doing is using hot air. So often, the elderly have air but they don’t turn it on because they’re afraid of the cost. This is not the time to be afraid of the cost – this is the time to save lives and turn on the air. There is help in the instance that
utility bills need to be paid. The idea is to keep people alive, especially in the heat.” When organization founder and interim Executive Director Gentry Trotter started the Heat Up St. Louis program in 2000 to help provide heat in the winter for underprivileged households, he recognized a need for temperature regulation for the needy in the summer as well. Since the program’s inception, Cool Down St. Louis has raised over $13 million and has impacted the lives of over 300,000. The key to this, explains Trotter, is to adopt an open mindedness to the needs of the community and to help educate those they serve in order to prevent repeated cases. “Need has no geographic boundary,” said Trotter. “We try to educate people so they don’t come back. We want people to be self-reliant. We try to work with them to make sure they understand how to avoid these emergency cases.” In response to the second heat-related death of a senior in the St. Louis area this summer, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger allocated $250,000 in federal grant money to Cool Down St. Louis to further their mission in keep-
ing as many people cool as possible. In addition to participating in the Check On Your Neighbors campaign, there are several other ways people can help others stay safe this summer. “Volunteering is really important, but right now it is really necessary to raise
Delmar Gardens celebrates
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