The Greene County Firewood Ministry arose out of two local churches discovering that they were both cutting firewood for the disadvantaged. I am not sure when they actually got together. I started helping them around 2008 or 2009. At the time, they were unincorporated and working on Saturdays out of the remains of an old practice bomb manufacturing plant. Much of the wood was scrounged; most of which was cut to firewood length in the field and brought to the woodlot on modified single and double axle landscape trailers. At the woodlot, the wood was split using a variety of hydraulic splitters. The wood was delivered using the same trailers. Recipients were pre-qualified through the local food bank. At the time approximately 300 trailer loads were delivered each season which ran from October through April. The intake pretty much matched the demand so there was little to no stockpiles (or time to season). In 2011, the ministry was incorporated.
As time progressed, many partners joined in the endeavor. Local churches provided breakfast and lunch, a local industry loaned a skid steer, the sheriff provided inmates, the city provided a roll-off for the worthless uglies, tree services dropped off wood, various business provided goods and services free or at a reduced cost, various groups brought in volunteers to work for a Saturday. It all meshed for mutual benefit. Inmates got fresh air and home cooked meals with some good folks, the government got a reduction in the wood load at the landfill, volunteer groups had a new project to gather around, tree services got a convenient in-town location to drop off wood, and lots of folks were kept warm. As the need began to grow, the ministry began to upgrade the landscape trailers to dump trailers. Among other things, this allowed folks in their 70s and 80s to deliver wood. It also saved labor on the intake end. A skid steer splitter attachment was acquired to splitter biger stuff in to quarters. Splitters were upgraded to SuperSplits with some initial assistance from the manufacturer. Additional skid steers were added with skeleton buckets. And the demand continued to grow.
Then came Covid - no more inmates, no home cooked meals and far fewer volunteers. The ministry responded to Covid by seeking additional funding sources and using the funds to further mechanize with a core group of volunteers working essentially full time year round – they are affectionately known as the Filthy Few. We now have 4 wood processors with conveyors, more skid steers, a Kubota compact tractor with forks, and a new facility lent to us. As of February, the ministry was serving 349 families and had delivered over 1800 loads in the 21/22 season. Due to the dangers and liability concerns, the ministry doesn’t fell trees. That task is usually offered to me. If I believe it is reasonable safe and productive, I try to accommodate the tree owner.
With Covid declining, a few more volunteers are appearing and some food is returning.
Ron
2012
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