Christian Leftist

People living in Northern Alaska off the coast of the Bering Sea are hurting this winter because of several factors, and in one particular town called Emmonak, people have only one meal a day because they survive on sustinence fishing and the catch was terrible this year.

Local commercial fishermen didn’t make any money from king salmon — a staple of the economy — Tucker said, and an early freeze-up forced the village to miss its winter fuel barge.

Then the cold snap hit.

Tucker says he suspects other nearby villages are hurting in the same way.

…

Heating oil currently costs $7.68 a gallon, according to the Emmonak village corporation that sells the fuel.

But that price could soon rise, because the corporation had to start flying in extra heating fuel last week to make up for the missed barge.

Former Emmonak City Manager Martin Moore estimated in December that flying in the oil could raise the price as high as $11 a gallon.

Apparently, Palin’s rural advisor resigned in October, and she has yet to name a replacement, so there’s no one coordinating state aid to the Native American villages. Those villages rely on fishing to survive and who need heating oil to keep their families warm through the winter.

If you would like to help the people of Emmonak, please contact:

Emmonak Tribal Council
P.O. Box 126
Emmanok, AK 99581
(907) 949-1720

or

City of Emmonak, (907) 949-1227/1249 (Credit card donations are acceptable.
Please specify the donation is for heating oil!)