FAMILY WITH NO HEAT GETS FREE FURNACE

A Cape Girardeau family who were spending the winter in a house warmed by only a single space heater received the Christmas gift of a furnace Monday.

The plight of Debbie Hunt and her children Shane, 4, and Kevin Jr., 4 months, came to light last week. The furnace in the house they rent from Hunt's grandmother could not be lighted because of two holes that were potential sources of carbon monoxide.

Neither Hunt nor her grandmother, who recently moved into a nursing home, could afford to replace the furnace. Hunt's husband was sent to prison earlier this year.

Holigan Homes offered to provide the family with a furnace. One of its suppliers, Jeff Bien of Jeff's Heating and Cooling, installed the combination furnace and air-conditioning unit at no charge.

Gary Turner, vice president of sales for the company, said he read about the Hunt family in Thursday's Southeast Missourian. "I thought there might be something we could do," he said. "Before I could bring it up my boss came to me and said, 'Let's see about getting her some heat.'"

Turner's boss is John Marlin, president of Holigan Homes. The development company has built about 100 homes in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and the surrounding area.

Turner said the Hunts' old furnace was particularly dangerous because it was stationed in the middle of the house, which has no basement. "Sometimes with a cracked exchanger it is fairly dangerous. With the furnace on the main level it could have been disastrous," he said.

Turner said the approximate retail cost of the furnace and installation was $1,500.

Bien's company took measurements in the house Friday and installed the unit Monday.

The family spent Sunday night, when the temperature dipped into the 20s, "covered up in a bunch of blankets," Hunt said.

Monday night they were warmed by the new furnace.

"It's real nice," Hunt said. "I'm so happy that they did it."

Holigan Homes and Bien weren't the only generous businesses. Allied Mechanical also had offered to install a new furnace for the family for free. Its supplier, Cape Winair Co., was prepared to provide a furnace at cost. Insurance agent Bo Shantz had volunteered to cover that cost.

Hunt said she accepted the gift from Holigan Homes and Bien instead of the other offer simply because she spoke to them first.

She said she was surprised that so many people wanted to help.

The donation also makes unnecessary an emergency request by the East Missouri Action Agency for money to repair or replace the Hunts' furnace. The request was moved ahead of others because children were involved.