Westerly Fire Chief David A. Sayles doesn’t want to see anyone die this winter from makeshift heating arrangements.

“From the fireman’s point of view, I want people to be able to use their central heating systems for their main source of heat,” Sayles said yesterday. “I don’t want them using lamps, light fixtures, portable heaters, ovens, stoves in general” to keep warm.

He’s talking about A Dollar Makes A Difference, the campaign launched by the WARM (Westerly Area Rest, Meals) Shelter on the idea that many people can have a great impact if they each give just a little.

The WARM Shelter is asking everyone in the community (if they have the means) to give $1 each week from Oct. 1 to March 1.

“It will save lives,” WARM Shelter Executive Director Jean Barry said yesterday. “All of us would want to try to save someone’s life. No matter what they’re doing with their money, no matter how you perceive their lifestyle, I don’t think anyone wants to see anyone die.”

Most oil companies require a minimum delivery of 100 gallons. Barry said the shelter arranged a 50-gallon delivery the other day for $168.

A family that has $50 to spend on oil but needs $336 for a minimum delivery might go without heat or use an extension cord on a space heater, huddle around an open oven or overtax the household wiring. Those decisions can lead to people freezing to death, dying in a fire or being poisoned by carbon monoxide gas.

“You’re not just talking about adults,” Barry said. “You’re talking about children.”

The WARM Shelter’s Leah Eagan-Stoddard, a development associate and volunteer coordinator, points out that the average household will pay an estimated $3,000 for heat this winter, electricity costs are up 21.7 percent since last year and heating oil costs have risen 40 percent.

She said people can donate online either by linking from www.warmshelter.org, or going directly to www.firstgiving.com/dollarmakesadifference.

Participating churches in South County are passing the collection plate an extra time each week or distributing envelopes in which congregants can send donations, Eagan-Stoddard said. Donations can also be dropped off at three locations: The WARM Shelter at 56 Spruce St., the Westerly Fire Department at 7 Union St. and Guardian Fuel at 79 Old Hopkinton Rd.

Or, she said, if a donor calls her at the WARM Shelter at (401) 596-9276, “I can go over and pick it up.”

Staff members at the shelter, she said, are doing their contributions by payroll deductions. “We would love it if we could get people to buy into that concept.”

The campaign is set up to last 22 weeks, but if people wanted their payroll deduction to go on all year, she said, “So much the better.”

State Sen. Dennis L. Algiere said he gets calls from people who are doing everything they can to stay afloat but aren’t making it. And many of these are families with both spouses working, he said. “Some of them are sad. I’ve had people cry on the phone.

“I’m hoping people will read this story and understand that if they have a couple of extra dollars, I’m hoping they’ll contribute one dollar a week. Of that 22 dollars, 100 percent will go directly” to keeping the heat on.

“Collectively, it can make a difference,” Algiere said. “I know it sounds small, but this is a good program. If we work together at least we can minimize the impact that the economy is doing to our families.”

“We face very hard times in the world,” Sayles said. “It’s our responsibility to work together to make sure that everyone gets through these hard times.”

Sayles called it “a nice way to do business. A dollar a week doesn’t hurt anybody. It should make everybody feel pretty good that they’re helping their neighbor.”

And, he said, “If we’re able to avoid one fire, one fatality, it’s very inexpensive.”

He said that in 2005, the United States had 20,900 home fires. They killed 500 people, injured 1,100 and caused an estimated $862 million in direct property damage.

“This dollar a week is going to drive those numbers down,” Sayles said. “That’s what fire prevention is all about. That’s working together in the community. That’s our social obligation.”

Barry said the money will be allocated with care. First, applicants must apply for heating assistance through South County Community Action. If they are ruled ineligible because they are, say, $5 or $10 over the income limit, or if they can’t wait for December, when heating assistance starts, “We’ll find out how much they can put toward” fuel and together work something out.

Families who are perceived as well off might be living paycheck to paycheck, she said. A few days out of work, or one spouse being laid off, or an unexpected medical bill can put a family out in the cold. She advises families in trouble to put their money toward their rent or mortgage and heating. “We will find them food,” she said.

“We’re finding that these people who are really struggling are having a very hard time asking for help because they’ve been the ones who are always giving.”

Sayles summed it up: “If you put aside a dollar a week when you do your weekly bills, it’s kind of a nice way of saying, I’m thinking of my community, making sure my community is warm and safe.”

dnaylor@projo.com