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AGH was recently awarded $75k to strengthen fire prevention programs at firewood banks for firewood users. The first program will launch January 22 in Libby, Montana. The other five communities are: Freeport, ME; Hancock, MI; Williams, OR; Barnardsville, NC; and Crestone, CO. Read more about AGH’s program to expand safety resources here. | | | |
AGH is nearly done processing all of the applications from the 2025-2026 grant cycle. Forty two firewood banks have been chosen this year to receive funding, with an average grant amount of $27,500. This year, we added a requirement that firewood banks must currently source, or have a documented plan to source, some or all firewood from federally managed lands. This requirement changed the location of this year’s grantees, meaning more applications came in from regions with more federally-managed land.
Read about the 37 firewood distribution programs that have already received funding on our grantee page and check out their stats below:
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U.S. Forest Service Region 1 is home to the most grantees (8), while Regions 3, 4, and 8 have six grantees each. Each USFS Forest Service Region is represented by at least one grantee this year!
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Montana has seven grantees in the 2025-2026 grant cycle, the most out of any other state.
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Thirteen grantees (35%) have been operating for 10+ years.
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Sixteen grantees (43.2%) are first-time recipients of Firewood Bank Assistance Program funding.
| | Below is a list of federally managed lands that grantees are sourcing wood from this year. | | |
This month we feature Jazz Maltz, Executive Director of Full Circle Forestry Collective based in Western North Carolina and founder of the Barnardsville Alliance Firewood Bank.
"I am also deeply motivated by the power of community to come together and work in solidarity for our collective survival."
| | | AGH’s Hannah Stinson met Thalia Garmendez, the Program Coordinator for Tse'ii'ahi' Community Center, and toured their new and exciting firewood bank in Standing Rock, New Mexico. Read more here! | |
| The First Church of the Nazarene in Gallup, New Mexico, operates a firewood assistance ministry that provides heating wood to anyone in need, regardless of income, background, or affiliation. Read more about Hannah Stinson's visit with the wood ministry here! | |
| Perspectives on Firewood Banks | | |
Cowboy State Daily: Clear Creek Wood Bank - Making Wyoming Better
“Many of our communities are faced with an aging population who needs occasional help, working class poor who struggle paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet and folks on fixed incomes facing increasing costs for everything.”
This opinion piece centers on community-led action as the primary solution to local challenges, downplaying the role of federal programs in addressing those needs.
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New Republic: Firewood Banks Aren’t Inspiring. They’re a Sign of Collapse.
"That’s why wood banks—like a food bank but for fuel—are important. They’re the clearest sign that basic systems in this country have already failed."
This opinion piece reminds us that firewood banks, while powerful examples of mutual aid, also reveal a deeper problem in one of the world’s wealthiest countries: many people struggle to meet basic needs, including heat, because existing systems and safety nets aren’t reaching everyone who needs them.
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Start-Up Grant in Action: Firewood Bank Update
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In early December, the Director of Custer County, Colorado's Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Robyn Knappe, sent an update to AGH about their firewood bank partnership with Veterans Rescue Ranch (VRR).
In 2024, VRR, supported by the OEM, created the Veteran Emergency Timber Support (VETS) Program and received a $10,000 grant from the Firewood Bank Assistance Program.
Robyn shared, "In Fall 2025, one of the OEM volunteers, Anne Sasko, convinced volunteers from Team Rubicon, another non-profit, to come for a day project and buck the wood into woodstove size logs. The next day the VRR called upon the community, OEM Custer County Mitigation Team and Director, who showed up on her birthday to split the bucked wood. And people gladly volunteered to split the wood and stack it. VRR had extra splitters loaned for the day, a bobcat and other equipment and wonderful volunteers. Geoff fed everyone and had plenty of safety gear. CEO for Veteran’s Rescue Ranch, Geoffrey Schram, stated 'It was very successful as the wood got split ready for curing or distribution and everyone had a good time.'”
We love hearing updates from previous grantees of the Firewood Bank Assistance Program, especially from start-ups! Have an update to share as a start-up wood bank? Share it with us!
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Team Rubicon bucking the whole tree into manageable splitting size.
| | Robyn Knappe (OEM Director) and Andrew Ford supporting log pick up/delivery from Spread Eagle neighborhood mitigation, Westcliffe, CO. | | Custer County Mitigation Awards and Volunteer Appreciation Dinner Nov 2025. Far left: Veterans Rescue Ranch located in Custer County CO, owners Geoff and Christy Schram and right: Custer County Mitigation Team (volunteer sawyers, volunteer neighborhood ambassadors and Robyn Knappe, Office of Emergency Management Director). | | |
| Is your firewood bank looking to recruit volunteers? One firewood bank in Maine, the Community Housing Improvement Project Inc. (CHIP) Wood Bank, put out a notice for their “Wood Chips Processing Party” in their local newspaper! This is just one small avenue for recruitment that might be successful in your area. We’ve also had another wood bank say they’ve had success with tabling at farmers markets where they gather both donations and contact info for those interested in volunteering. | | |
Allen Family Firewood in southern Maine donated two cords of processed firewood to Cumberland Wood Bank and visited with the volunteer crew in North Yarmouth, Maine.
Cumberland Wood Bank received funding in the first year of the Firewood Bank Assistance Program!
| | Firewood Banks In the News | This month’s “Firewood Banks In the News” section is our largest yet, with local news outlets nationwide highlighting the vital role wood banks play in their communities. | | “Giving the firewood away makes the hard work worth it.” | | |
You can find the accompanying article to this video here.
Beaverhead Community Wood Bank Ministry received funding in years two, three, and four of the Firewood Bank Assistance Program.
| | “And if you have a tree that has naturally fallen in the yard, the organization can come and chop it up, to get it out of the way. Williams emphasized they do not harm any standing trees.” | | |
“‘In Atlanta you have a lot of trees that fall naturally,’ he said. ‘It has nothing to do with their overall health, it’s just we have heavy rain and high winds.’”
Check out Atlanta Firewood Bank's new website here.
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Tree Service Donates Free Firewood to Veterans and Seniors (WV)
“‘I feel like these are people who have already put in their time. They’ve done a lot of good for the ones around them and their community, and then also you know the seniors are more vulnerable, and we want to help out those that could use the help,’ Boyles said.”
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How Much Wood Can a Wood Chip Saw, Split, Stack, and Deliver? (ME)
“‘I think many of the people in the community, if they realized how some of our community is living, they would be shocked,’ Hunt said. ‘And CHIP is in there doing and helping those people.’”
CHIP Wood Bank received funding in years two and four of the Firewood Bank Assistance Program.
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Lake Region Wood Bank In Maine Is Helping To Keep People Warm
“‘It's more than delivering wood,’ Shuttleworth said. ‘It’s a healing opportunity not only for the people that get the wood, but this builds community for people that want to give and they’re always trying to find a way of how to do that.’”
Find more pictures from the Lake Region Wood Bank here.
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Volunteers Needed for LBFE Firewood Program (MI)
“We know most of the people we deliver to. I mean, that’s been one of the greatest parts about doing this is just meeting these people by delivering firewood to them. It’s just amazing. And meeting the people at Little Brothers that work there. [They] are just amazing people.”
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Wood Banks In Maine Are Increasing In Number; So Is The Need For Heat
“‘We've helped so many families with situations like - we had a call one week a couple years ago where the lady was burning her shed. She was taking planks off her shed to stay warm. And that kind of thing happens. It happens more than we’d like to realize or admit,’ Matthews said. ‘And that’s why we were founded, and that’s why we continue to try to help people out. Just like a food pantry. You need food sometimes and you don’t have it, you need heat sometimes and you don't have it.’”
| | “Greene County Firewood Ministry volunteers Sheila Honeycutt and Alan Huff operate a log splitter at the ministry’s site in Greeneville on Wednesday. The Firewood Ministry works to make sure hundreds of Green County residents keep warm during cold winter months.” | | “Rick Noel, a volunteer with the Firewood Ministry, saws a log into firewood lengths at the ministry’s site off Old Stage Road in Greeneville Wednesday morning” | | “Sheila Honeycutt is shown Wednesday morning at the Firewood Ministry. She drives from Hot Springs, North Carolina, to the ministry in Greeneville twice a month to volunteer.” | | International Firewood Banks | | |
Ukraine: Warmth for Those Who Hold On
This international example of free firewood distribution is being carried out by a non-profit organization in partnership with larger humanitarian NGOs and funded through United Nations mechanisms. Unlike a typical local firewood bank, this is a time-limited humanitarian response rather than an ongoing, community-based program. Despite the difference in scale, situation, and organization, this story shows how delivering free firewood can make a real difference for families living in crisis. Even in the most difficult conditions, having a reliable source of heat gives people safety, comfort, and a sense of hope through the winter.
| | “Last year, Hanna received cash assistance for winter heating needs and bought firewood on her own. She recalls how difficult it was: not only finding firewood for sale, but also arranging delivery, and then paying extra to hire people to saw and chop it. This year, when she had the opportunity to receive pre-cut ready-to-use firewood – already delivered directly to her yard – she felt a deep sense of relief.” | | | |
Do you have firewood bank stories to tell or resources to share? Email us!
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