Benefit helps those in need

Sunday, May 28, 2017
Troy Wilkins, President of the American Legion motorcycle riders group for Post 26 and 101.

Four years ago, Troy Wilkins had an idea — find a way to help less-fortunate people in the Mountain Home community heat their homes. As the president of the American Legion motorcycle riders group for Post 26 and 101, that idea turned into an effort to cut firewood for these individuals, including senior citizens dealing with fixed budgets.

The firewood idea was also a way for the Legion motorcycle group to do something productive during the winter when they can't ride.

Wilkins volunteered to use a section of his business property to process the wood. Those cords of wood remain stored there until it's time to deliver these goods.

This non-profit effort is run completely by a team of about 30 volunteers, including active duty and retired military people along with members of a local church and 4-H participants. To date, about 2,000 volunteer hours have gone into this project.

Currently there is about 10 cords of firewood on Wilkins' lot. A cord of firewood is eight feet long, four feet wide and four feet tall. The wood is cut into 12 to 16 inch lengths and then cut into quarters depending on their diameter.

Over the past year, this team has delivered more than 60 cords of wood, all of which was cut to fit a regular-sized fireplace.

The wood itself is donated by people in the community who want the timber cleared from their property. D & D Tree Service has also donated wood for the project. Old School Small Engine Repair also donates its services to help keep this wood-cutting equipment in good shape.

The group has also traveled to Glenns Ferry to get unneeded wood, and three years ago, they went to Bliss to get additional donations. Wilkins said that anyone can donate wood to the project.

Volunteers donate their time and equipment to help with this project. The equipment that they use includes chainsaws and a 34-ton log splitter along with a lot of manpower, meaning "muscles, muscles, muscles," Wilkins said.

Wilkins emphasized that there's a need for more volunteers and equipment to keep this effort going. There is a need for people to cut and stack the firewood in addition to raking and cleaning up all of the debris left behind. This is in addition to those needed to pick up all of the lumber donations.

Safety is very important when it comes to this effort, Wilkins said. Only trained people are allowed to run some of the equipment.

Money raised from the firewood project goes to benefit the Legion's legacy fund for veterans in need as well as supporting local scholarships.

"We are over $8000 so far this year," Wilkins said regarding the proceeds raised to date.

The firewood isn't sold at a set price. Only donations are accepted because the Legion Riders are a non-profit organization.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: