By JACKIE MAJERUS
STAFF WRITER

BRISTOL — More city residents are asking for help with the grocery and heating bills and more Bristol children are qualifying for free and reduced meals in schools — all signs of economic struggle in the Mum City.

Thomas Morrow, executive director of the Bristol Community Organization, said the agency has taken in about 1,300 applications since August from people looking for help with winter heating bills.

About 20 percent of the people seeking energy assistance this season are new to the program, Morrow said.

The new clients are dealing with job losses or a drop in income due to furloughs or reduced hours, said Morrow.

“Somehow, they’ve been impacted by what’s happened nationally,” said Morrow.

Many want help with heating bills, Morrow said, but others also need clothing and food.

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About five people each day are coming to his agency worried that their heat will be shut off, said Morrow, a number he said is high for BCO.

“There’s probably more that have no heat,” he said.

In trying to tackle poverty, BCO serves elderly, handicapped and low income people in Bristol, Plymouth, Plainville, Burlington and Farmington.

Morrow said demand is also up at the city’s soup kitchens and food pantries.

“We’re seeing an increase pretty much across the board,” he said.

In the city’s schools, more children than ever are qualifying for free and reduced lunches and breakfasts, said Greg Boulanger, director of the district’s food services program.

The numbers rise each year, said Boulanger, but he said this year the district had “a pretty dramatic increase” of almost 10 percent.

For grades 1-12 — the statewide measuring stick — the number of children who qualify is 38.84 percent, Boulanger said.

The number is important, because a lot of the district’s funding depends on the number of children who qualify.

Numbers are higher in the lower grades. An average elementary school in Bristol has about 40 percent of the student body from first grade on up qualified for free or reduced price meals, Boulanger said. Since he came on the job 14 years ago the percentage of Bristol children who qualify has nearly doubled.

“It has a dramatic effect. There’s a lot of people that don’t want to face that,” said Boulanger.

There are families, he said, where both parents may be working, but one is furloughed or loses a good-paying job. If the other one has a job that doesn’t pay much, the household income could really plummet, leaving the family eligible for the program.

“Every single day, we are helping people who are having a new dilemma,” said Boulanger. He said the district works closely with the state Department of Social Services to prequalify many of the children who get free or reduced price meals. Others can apply at any time through the district’s website or in person.

Morrow said the increase in the number of children receiving free and reduced price lunches shows a city feeling the impact of the recession.

“What it signals is that many more families are being affected by the downturn in the economy,” said Morrow. “As the economy improves, I think that number will go down.”

BCO is prioritizing the applications for energy assistance. Morrow said BCO can’t authorize any delivery of fuel until Nov. 1, so households without heat that include a young child or elderly person can be helped by the Bristol Fuel Bank.

The local fuel bank has some funds and is in “pretty good shape right now,” said Morrow, because of generous donations from the Roberts Foundation and others.

BCO is trying to process all applications for deliverable fuel – coal, wood, oil and propane – as soon as possible.

People who rely on a utility company for electric or gas heat, said Morrow, can be designated a hardship case and protected from shutoff over the winter, so those cases won’t likely be addressed until after the first of the year.

About the schools

Bristol School district statistics show: 36 percent of students at Bristol Central High School and 30 percent at Bristol Eastern qualify for free or educed price lunches. O’Connell School has the highest number of eligible children at nearly 83 percent; Chippens Hill Middle School is second highest with more than 46 percent closely followed by Hubbell School with almost 46 percent. Jennings School has the lowest percentage of students who qualify with just over 24 percent.

Children who are eligible for free or reduced price meals can get both lunch and breakfast.

Breakfast costs $1.25 at elementary and middle schools and $1.55 at the high schools. The reduced price is 30 cents. Lunches cost $2.75 at elementary and middle schools and $3 at the high schools. Reduced price is 40 cents. Milk is served as part of lunch but can be purchased separately for 40 cents.

Of the roughly 8,000 students in the district, about 5,000 eat school lunch, and a little more than 800 eat breakfast.

The income guidelines for free and reduced price meals depends on the family size. A family of four earning $28,665 qualifies for free meals; family income of $40,793 qualifies children for reduced price meals.