Interim Financial Report - February, 2007 - Heating and Utility Assistance Program

February 9, 2007

Interim Financial Report – Link Center Foundation: Heating and Utility Assistance Program

Please be aware that all funds received for this program go to provide heat (propane, wood, and/or electric) and utility assistance for the Elders, ill, and disabled on the Lakota Reservations of South Dakota and are sent directly to the utility and/or wood vendors.

All funds received for the heating and utility assistance program go to that program except for the small bank operating expenses deducted automatically by the bank from credit card and bank debit card donations or foreign currency conversion donations.

The Winter of 2005-2006 was our first year for this program.

Applications received from Nov 2005 through May 1, 2006 totaled 37 families

Link Center Foundation raised and disbursed $5,889.00

2006-2007 is the second Winter for our program to provide assistance.

Applications for Winter 2006-2007 (including 2005-2006 recurring families) now total 136 families but we have only been able to assist 96 families. More applications are arriving weekly.

Link Center Foundation has raised $7225.00 plus accepted a personal loan of $2206.92 from Audrey Link and the total amount disbursed to date this winter is $9,431.92 for the 96 families.

Link Center Foundation is an all-volunteer Colorado non-profit organization. None of our staff, directors, Board Members, or volunteers are paid any kind of income. Our Federal 501c3 Federal Tax Exemption paperwork was filed in September, 2006. Our application is currently in the pending status. As with any non-profits, any donations to Link Center Foundation are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.

From March, 2002 until September, 2006, Link Center Foundation was a recognized 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization under the umbrella Non-Profit designation of the National Heritage Foundation. However, our fiduciary relationship with the National Heritage Foundation was terminated by us due to the new tax regulations regarding umbrella Non-Profit organizations as found in the new Pension Protection Act signed into law in August of 2006. We chose to do this due to the fact that there would no longer be any guarantee that funds for heating would be disbursed as requested.

We will continue our fundraising efforts so as to be able to help the Lakota families who come to us in need. The need is great while the availability of assistance through any source is very small. Link Center Foundation sincerely appreciates all donations, of any size, as do the families who are helped through your generosity.

Keloland TV News – Sioux Falls, South Dakota
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,54723



February 15, 2007

Heat Assistance Runs Out On Reservations

(A/P) Federal money for low-income heating aid is running out on several South Dakota American Indian reservations as the mercury plummets well below zero.

On the Rosebud reservation, some electricity customers have had their service shut off, and others are running out of propane and wood.

A tribal official says one person in a remote area was reduced to burning clothes for heat.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe's $664,000 in federal low-income energy aid for this year already has run out. The tribal energy coordinator says he is working with congressional delegation officials to find other funding. The tribe, on the Pine Ridge reservation, has a list of members waiting for help.

News Staff
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