Sometimes the cost of heating is too damn high. Wood banks are volunteer-run, and they cut and donate firewood. See how you can benefit—or help out.

Wood banks function much like food banks, ... The kids seem to do so well because they want to be here instead of required classes in classrooms where they have to be. ...

“Wood banks are inherently a local phenomenon,” Leahy said. “You don’t want to move firewood very far.” There are few wood banks which advertise themselves as such.

Federal agencies have supported wood banks and wood donations, too. In October 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service gave out more than $700,000 to support wood banks.

Wood banks, similar to a food bank, provide firewood at little or no cost to people in need. Most are run by volunteers who harvest, split and season the logs that are stored on donated lots.

Midcoast Wood Bank is in the midst of applying for nonprofit status, a designation it would use to try to bring the state’s other wood banks under one umbrella.

Maine communities are organizing more volunteer groups to provide firewood at little or no fee to people in need as heating and other costs soar this winter.