Maine Wood Banks Network delivers 150 cords, honors founder Bruce Wildes
A Brunswick celebration marked 150 cords of firewood delivered statewide as Maine wood banks honored Bruce Wildes, the Cumberland founder who started it all.
A winter in Maine can turn on a simple question: is there enough wood to keep the stove burning? The Maine Wood Banks Network used a Sunday gathering at Flight Deck Brewing in Brunswick to answer with a year of volunteer labor, saying it delivered more than 150 cords of firewood to families in need across the state.
The Community Wood Bank-quet served as both a thank-you and a warning that heating insecurity is still forcing hard choices in homes from the Midcoast to Cumberland County and beyond. Wood banks are volunteer-run groups that provide free seasoned firewood to people who need help staying warm, and the model has grown into a statewide network that now includes 15 banks serving families in need, said Tony Dimarco of the Maine Wood Banks Network.
The scale matters because wood heat remains a main source of warmth for many Mainers. WGME has reported that more than 182,000 people in the state rely on wood as their primary heat source, a reminder that firewood is not a rustic extra but a basic necessity for thousands of households.
The Brunswick event also honored Bruce Wildes, whom organizers called the “godfather of wood banks.” Wildes started the Cumberland Woodbank 19 years ago after seeing a neighbor burn furniture to stay warm because she had no firewood. Since 2007, the Cumberland Woodbank has been donating wood to people in its community, and Wildes has said, “The wood bank is my full-time job.”
What began with Wildes donating some of his own firewood, gathering more from others and organizing a small volunteer crew to process four cords has become one of the state’s best-known examples of neighbors helping neighbors. News Center Maine has reported that Cumberland Woodbank is one of about 15 wood banks in Maine, and that Wildes has helped about 40 families each winter through the Cumberland effort.
That growth has not erased the need. Even after moving more than 150 cords this winter, the network is still looking for more logs, a sign that demand continues to outpace supply in some places. The University of Maine has also been involved in helping communities start wood banks through a national project, extending the idea beyond one town and into a broader public response to heating insecurity.
In Brunswick, the celebration at Flight Deck Brewing recognized the volunteers, donors and community members who keep the system moving. It also underscored a hard truth for Maine families: staying warm still depends on a network of people willing to cut, split, haul and give.
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