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Home heating oil prices have dropped more than $2 a gallon since July, but there are still a lot of families that cannot afford to keep their homes warm and need help, local officials said Monday.

The price of home heating oil was $4.71 a gallon on July 8, according to the state Department of Energy. The average had fallen to $2.63 as of last week.

Michael Ferrante of the Massachusetts Oil Heat Council said the easing of prices reflects the slump in crude oil prices caused by the weak economy.

"The demand is down worldwide. It just shows once again we are in a global economy," he said.

While the savings are a blessing for many homeowners, local officials said they still see a strong need for help for less fortunate families. North Attleboro selectmen Chairman John Rhyno helps raise money for a group known as Neighbors Helping Neighbors, which gives out fuel assistance.

He said unemployment has increased so much that there are more families who cannot afford heating oil even at the lower price.

Rhyno said local agencies still need donations to help those families.

"Even though the price dropped, I think the need is going to more than offset that by far," he said.

June Fleischmann, Attleboro's outreach worker, said many of the families seeking help are the type who always took care of themselves until now.

"People are still coming in who have never asked for help before. These are working families," she said.

Many are skilled workers who lost their jobs and cannot find new work, she said.

She said she encourages residents who want to help to donate to the Attleboro Energy Fund.

Michael Mershon, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. James McGovern, said the congressman's office still gets a lot of calls for help, although the volume may be down a bit lately.

However, he said McGovern is concerned that the price could always shoot up again because the oil market and economy are so volatile. There are also families that locked in a price at $4 last summer, anticipating costs would continue to rise.

Ferrante said the slide in oil prices has lifted the incentive for homeowners to switch to natural gas because the costs are comparable.

Crude oil prices fell another 9 percent Monday to below $50 a barrel, but Ferrante said nobody can predict where prices are going in the future. They had reached nearly $150 a barrel in July.