PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY (WSLS 10) - As winter-like temperatures finally arrive in Southwest Virginia, one church in Pittsylvania County is working hard to make sure its neighbors stay warm.
On Saturday, volunteers with the Mount Vernon Baptist Church cut several truckloads of firewood to help people heat their homes. The idea began about four years ago, with the church providing firewood to members of the congregation.
Since then, volunteers have expanded the program to help people all around the community, sometimes driving almost an hour away to deliver the gift of warmth to people who need it most.Mount Vernon Men's Coordinator Billy Dean White says when times got hard, the church wanted to do what it could to help.
"We had a lot of need when the gas prices went up, people couldn't afford their gas and their oil, so the wood, people needed wood to heat with, so we just started delivering wood," said White.
That was four years ago. Today, White and his team of volunteers help to deliver wood to people all over Southwest Virginia.
"I have 8 to 10 gentlemen that come out every Saturday, donate their time and their energy. They furnish everything, their gas, their time, their chainsaws," said White.
One of the recipients is Deborah Robison. She's driving her load of wood to Eden, North Carolina to give to a woman in need.
"Every time we show up with a load of wood, she is ecstatic. She is, she's just bubbling with joy because someone actually cares enough to help her, and that's what this is about," said Robison.
Meanwhile, Cheryl Hylton is helping volunteers collect wood to take to her mother.
"She loves it, she thinks it's wonderful. There's not a whole lot of people like that and these people do good work," said Hylton.
"They really can't believe that you're actually giving it to them. A lot of them expect what do we need to make a donation or this or that, but just to see the expression on their face when they truly need it is worth coming out here every Saturday and doing," said White.
As the program has expanded, so has the support for White and his team.
"Our church, we've had a donation of a pickup and a wood splitter, and it's just a good call to show God's power and how God works through people," said White.
White says he plans to have the crew out there every Saturday cutting and delivering firewood through the end of February.
To request free wood, or to sign up as a volunteer, you can reach White at (276) 340-0009.
