ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260003
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
PROJECT WARM, a public-private nonprofit partnership that first helped needy Richmonders, soon will be of help in the Roanoke Valley.
WARM - Wood Association Roanoke Metro - grew out of the concern of a retired Navy man, Louis Wilson. Twenty years ago he saw on television in his Richmond home a woman burning her family's clothes to keep from freezing. Today WARM has one purpose. That, Wilson told a dozen Roanoke area Church of the Brethren volunteers recently, is to provide free firewood, cut by city and private tree removers, for people who need it for their stoves.
The proposed Roanoke project is modeled on one successful in Richmond since 1976. It will involve several groups: volunteers from Churches of the Brethren; the Salvation Army; at least one private tree removal service, Trees Inc.; Explore Park; and the city of Roanoke's forestry department.
Churches of the Brethren, according to one of the local coordinators, Mary Wilson, have committed to Project Wood to re-establish a Christmas ministry for the Appalachian poor. Men and women from the supporting congregations will give time during the spring, summer and fall months to split chunks of wood obtained from fallen hardwood trees.
Recipients of the wood will be determined by the Salvation Army; those needing it can apply to that agency, which will maintain all records. Other agencies that help the needy also might work with the Salvation Army to receive wood, Mary Wilson said.
The private and public tree-removal workers will truck the wood chunks to a central location. A site in the Roanoke Industrial Center on Ninth Street Southeast is currently being used. Commercial splitters stored there will be used for most of the wood, though hand splitting may also be needed, Mary Wilson said.
Mary Wilson said schedules are being worked out with participating Brethren congregations so that volunteers can keep up a steady supply of wood for delivery during the winter. Delivery to households cleared by the Salvation Army is expected to start about Nov. 1, she said.
Louis Wilson, who founded Project WARM (with the "R" referring to Richmond), told the first Saturday morning volunteers in Roanoke that splitting wood for the needy has many valuable byproducts.
He said he hopes the project will save thousands of tax dollars in landfill dumping fees, as it did in Richmond. The need for stove wood may be even greater in the Roanoke Valley, where many poor families are still closely tied to rural life and accustomed to using trees for fuel, Mary Wilson said.
The Richmond project has won national and international awards for the Jaycees, but Louis Wilson insisted that "publicity is not its point. We just want to get stove wood to needy people and keep trees out of the landfills."
Mary Wilson said the response from congregations has been excellent. Because wood splitting, done by machine or hand, can be a dangerous job, only volunteers who are covered by Church of the Brethren liability insurance policies can be accepted to work, she said.
Nor can the new ministry accept donations of wood from individuals because of the complications of picking it up and its uncertain splitting and heating qualities. Louis Wilson said exceptions might be made for skilled volunteers from other groups who are covered by insurance.
"This is a simple, nonprofit ministry," the Richmond founder emphasized. "It works for many people, and we've found it a model for getting folks of different ages and cultures together."
Also, he added, it's a place where families can deliver wood together and "suburban kids can see something of how other people live."
The Roanoke Valley Church of the Brethren linkage came because Mary Wilson, a member of the board of Oak Grove congregation, is married to Marc Wilson, the Richmond founder's son. Marc Wilson is experienced at helping with the Richmond project and was among those who suggested WARM as a cooperative effort of the numerous Western Virginia Brethren members.
"The cooperation of the churches, the city administration, the industrial park manager, the wood suppliers and the new Salvation Army commander Captain [Stephen] Long has been wonderful in Roanoke," Wilson said. "We've gotten this whole project together in just four months."
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. Louis Wilson (left) supervises theby CNBsplitting of firewood by Charley Caldwell (center) and John Huffner,
pastor of the Ninth Street Church of the Brethren. Wilson, a
resident of Richmond, is the originator of the project, which
supplies firewood to the poor. color.