DILLON - For over 30 years, a ministry here in Dillon has been splitting logs and giving them away to the needy in Beaverhead County to ensure that folks around here stay warm during these hard winters.
“I enjoy sawing, you know. I enjoy, you know, helping get firewood to our folks in Beaverhead County,” Volunteer David Browning, 80, said.
For three decades, the Beaverhead Wood Bank Ministry has been cutting, splitting, and throwing firewood and delivering to those in need.
“We have clients from Monida to Divide and everywhere in between,” Ministry Director Rick Hartz said.
Last year, they distributed 150 cords of wood to more than 50 clients.
Senior volunteers in Montana prove age is just a number - They're splitting 150 cords of FREE firewood annually for neighbors in need
“Most of these people are living on a very limited income, most of them are elderly senior citizens, folks with disabilities,” Hartz said.
Many of the volunteers are senior citizens themselves, but they enjoy the hard work.
“I like working with wood, I burn wood, and I’ve felled trees before and planted trees, I’m a woods guy,” Gary Rillema, 71, said.
Cindy Decker is 63, and she can haul wood just a well as the guys.
“I don’t mind, I know where my limits are, I don’t try to be silly, but I try to pull my weight too,” Decker said.
The old crew gets help from young recruits with the Montana Youth Challenge Academy, in which they earn credit for community service.
The ministry uses money from donations and grants to purchase logs from forest service land. They meet every Wednesday to cut wood. Giving the firewood away makes the hard work worth it.
“They’re always very grateful, and it shows, and it’s a neat part of being involved in the thing. It makes you come back out and work harder,” Hartz said.
