The Problem
A lot of households in our area heat with wood — and a full winter's supply of seasoned hardwood costs $1,000 to $2,000 at current prices. For families already stretched thin by groceries, medical expenses, and today's generally high cost of living, that's an impossible number. New York's HEA heating assistance covers a portion, but not enough for a full season. Every winter, people in our community go cold.
The Idea
A woodbank works like a food pantry, but for firewood. Volunteers collect, split, season, and distribute free cordwood to households that can't afford to heat their homes. There are over 200 woodbanks operating across the country, many of them small, volunteer-run operations serving a handful of families in their own towns. We'd like to start one here.
The concept is straightforward: source wood that would otherwise go to waste — storm damage, tree service removals, hazard trees, land clearing — and turn it into split, seasoned firewood for people who need it.
What We Have So Far
We have a chainsaw, a hydraulic splitter, a truck to haul with, and a small group of people willing to put in the work. Federal grant funding exists specifically for woodbank startups through the USDA Forest Service's Firewood Bank Assistance Program, and several national organizations offer mentorship and resources to new programs.
What We Need
This is our biggest need. We're looking for a flat, truck-accessible area — ideally in or near Rosendale — where we can store logs, run a splitter on processing days, and stack split wood to dry. A corner of a farm, a municipal yard, church property, or an unused commercial lot would all work. It doesn't need to be fancy. It needs to be accessible and available.
Processing firewood is physical work and it goes a lot faster with a crew. We'd hold regular processing days — likely weekend mornings — where people can show up, split and stack wood, and go home knowing they helped a neighbor stay warm. No experience necessary. All safety equipment and training provided.
If you're a property owner with downed or hazard trees you need removed, or a tree service looking for a place to drop logs, we'd love to hear from you. Hardwood only — oak, maple, ash, hickory, cherry, beech, birch, and locust are all excellent.
We want to build this the right way. If you heat with wood and have struggled with costs, if you know someone who has, or if you have thoughts on how a program like this should work in Rosendale, we want to hear from you.
How It Would (Wood) Work
Wood is collected from local sources — tree services, storm cleanup, private landowners, and potentially state and county operations — and brought to the processing site. Volunteers buck logs to stove length and split them, then stack the wood to season over spring and summer. By fall, the firewood is dry and ready to distribute.
Distribution would begin in October and run through March, prioritizing elderly residents, people with disabilities, families with young children, and anyone in an emergency heating situation. Recipients can pick up wood at the site or, for those without transportation, we'd deliver.
Eligibility would be based on need — we're not interested in creating bureaucratic hurdles. If you're struggling to heat your home, that's enough.
Who Benefits
Beyond the families who receive firewood, a woodbank creates value across the community. Tree services get a free, local dump site for logs they'd otherwise pay to dispose of. The town gets a productive use for storm debris. Volunteers get a tangible way to help their neighbors. And all of us benefit from knowing that nobody in our community is going without heat.
Get Involved
We're in the early stages and looking for all kinds of support — a place to work, people to work with, wood to work on, and ideas to work from. If any part of this interests you, please reach out.