Stephen King Gives Back to Maine Community
Stephen King has been busy racking up accolades for his new novel 11/22/63 of late, but he has also made time to share some of his good fortune with fellow citizens of his home state of Maine. On Tuesday, the author announced that the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation is working to raise $140,000 to help provide heating fuel to poverty stricken Maine residents. “We’ll match up to $70,000 of the amount raised,” King told Bangor Daily News in a phone interview. “This economy is terrible and Tabitha and I both worry so much about Bangor because it truly is a working-class town and we are always looking for ways to help, and right now this is a great need.” The novelist owns three radio stations in the Bangor area, WKIT 100.3 FM, WZON 620 AM and The Pulse 103.1 FM, and he and his wife will work with the stations to get the word out and help raise funds.
The “Help Keep ME Warm This Winter” program comes on the heels of the announcement that The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will cut Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds in Maine by more than $30 million. “And on top of it the price of fuel continues to rise. The cost goes up, the need goes up and the assistance goes down. That’s the bottom line. That’s what is happening,” King says.
The author and his wife spend most of the winter months at their Florida home, but Bangor is never far from their hearts. “We still come back. Our children grew up on West Broadway and that is still where they want to be during the holidays,” he states. “We don’t forget how cold it is in Maine in the winter.”
If you would like to contribute to this worthy cause, please call (207) 990-2800 to donate by credit card. Donation checks, delivered by mail or in person, can be sent to: Help Keep ME Warm ZONE Radio, 861 Broadway, Bangor 04401