This month OESP is proud to feature an Oil Heat Cares project that was completed in February in Scotch Plains, NJ.

Roy Kuczera of Service Professionals in Union, NJ, led the team to replace a boiler for Pamela Merola, a brave woman struggling with many challenges. He reached out to Sid Harvey’s, a corporate member of OESP, for assistance, and Sid Harvey’s made the introduction to Oil Heat Cares.

Here is her touching story:

Pamela Merola is a 49-year-old single mother of three boys and one dog, and is a thoughtful daughter and loving sister. She is an artist, a jewelry maker and a fun, creative free spirit. Pam has served many patients as a physical therapist assistant for the past 12 years.

She has become close to the people she serves, counseling them through their tough journeys and always lending an empathetic ear, dispensing hugs as necessary.

Two years ago, Pam was diagnosed with advanced, Stage IV melanoma, which spread to lymph nodes in throughout her body. With all of the medical treatments she required to fight such an aggressive cancer, she could not work.

Last year, Service Professionals ran a Breast Cancer Awareness charity program in conjunction with “Mary’s Place by the Sea,” a respite home for women who are receiving treatment for cancer. Pam was selected as a very deserving recipient of a new furnace, after struggling with an unheated home for two years.

Because Pam’s house is 300 years old, it required an oil-fired steam boiler, which could not be provided by the company working with Mary’s Place. So, Oil Heat Cares stepped in and covered the cost of a Sid Harvey’s oil-fired steam boiler, including a Beckett Burner. With labor provided by Service Professionals, Pam and her family now have a warm house and were able to make it through the four nor’easters in their very old home.