SHERIDAN - For years, the Firewood Bank of the Ruby Valley has been delivering free firewood to the those in need.
The program hit a snag after three chainsaws were stolen from their shed in Sheridan recently. It wasn’t just a crime against this group of dedicated volunteers.
“What we’re doing here is providing firewood to our neighbors in the Ruby Valley who can’t take care of themselves for some reason. So who are we stealing from if you steal my saws? You’re stealing from your neighbors. And I guess that kind of gets under my craw just a tad,” said Firewood Bank Financial Director Frank Ford.
The non-profit group begins gathering the timber in the summer, uses the saws to cut them into logs and splits the wood throughout the winter months to be delivered to the elderly and the infirmed, whose main source of heat is firewood.
“We have widows, we have married couples that are financially strapped,” said Don Snyder.
Once word got out about the thefts, it didn’t take long for those in the community of Sheridan to donate chainsaws to get they volunteers back work.
“Local ranchers have been calling me all morning asking me how they can help, and it’s been a great neighborhood kind of thing,” said Ford.
The volunteers here load up this truck, send it out to the folks in the community, and they say there really is no better feeling than to help out your fellow neighbors.
“You ever deliver wood to somebody that’s needy, your heart will sing when they say thank you,” said Snyder.
And the volunteers are thankful for those who helped out when they needed it.
