HELENA — Volunteers at Tenmile Creek Park in Helena could be seen sawing, stacking, and chopping firewood to help those in the community who face heating insecurity on Thursday.
One volunteer, John Beaver says, “Montana can be a challenging place to live in the winter and for people who are unable to get firewood for whatever reason that maybe whether disabled or elderly community efforts like this that bring together so many different organizations and businesses to harness the power of people’s willingness to give back.”
Last winter, Warm Hearts Warm Homes supported 25 households and distributed 15 cords of wood.
Firewood is a much-needed community resource, and this wood will be free to anyone in need.
The program’s impacts go beyond providing warmth. Sue Prout received firewood last year to help her combat homelessness in winter.
"I was waiting for a good situation to come along and so during the winter you cannot scavenge wood and I got quite a bit of help from them," Prout says. "It is awesome and now I get to pay them back.”
The event is made possible by many organizations and businesses including Mark’s Lumber who provides the wood, Gardenwerks, Montana Bicycle Guild, Montana Conservation Corps, U.S. Forest Service, Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, and Prickly Pear Land Trust.
Twenty members from the Montana Conservation Corps celebrated their last day of the season by giving back.
“This is just a great way to turn around and just look at the communities needs and everybody feels really good about being here, ” Adam Hein, the Regional Director of Montana Conservation Corps says.
Warm Hearts Warm Homes provides free firewood to residents of Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Broadwater counties.
Contact the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for firewood pickup at 406-447-1625.
