|
Richmond resident Louis M. Wilson started the project after seeing a
newscast about elderly people who were financially unable to heat their
homes. He felt there must be something he could do to help these people. Mr.
Wilson began cutting, splitting, and delivering firewood to the needy in
1976. As the community became aware of his efforts and demand increased, Mr.
Wilson sought out the assistance of other organizations to meet the growing
need.
Project WARM is now a
group effort involving Mr. Wilson, the City of Richmond, the Salvation Army, and
the Richmond, Tuckahoe, and Chesterfield Jaycees. The Richmond Jaycees first
became involved in this project in 1989.
Lou Wilson serves as
the liaison between the Jaycees and the City. He ensures that an ample supply of
wood is available for splitting. Requests for additional materials and
maintenance are routed through him. Mr. Wilson is familiar with all the relevant
players in the City and is available to intercede on behalf of the project when
necessary.
The City of Richmond
provides the wood lot where the firewood is split and stored. Three hydraulic
splitters and a storage container have also been provided. The Bureau of Parks
and Recreation--Tree Division delivers tree trunks from trees taken down in the
City and its parks to the wood lot and saws these logs into lengths suitable for
firewood. The Jaycees split the wood and deliver it during the winter
months. Maintenance for the log splitters is also provided by the Tree Division
and coordinated by Lou Wilson. The Jaycees are responsible for providing gas for
the splitters. This expense can be paid for through the chapter appropriation.
The Bureau of Parks
and Recreation--Maintenance Division provides the necessary heavy equipment for
moving the tree trunks, and prepares the surface of the wood lot for proper
drainage.
The Salvation Army
receives, manages, and verifies applications from citizens desiring
firewood. Addresses are verified and map pages and coordinates of the addresses
are provided to facilitate accurate delivery. A delivery list is prepared for
the Richmond Jaycees to pick up each Friday during the delivery season (November
through March). Delivery listings provide instructions and tips, as well as
information indicating which agency received the firewood request. All past and
present activity is stored and tracked in the computer program maintained by
Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is available to act as a tax-deductible
clearing-house for donations to the project.
The
Richmond Jaycees
provide manpower for splitting the firewood and delivering it to citizens'
homes. The Project WARM committee coordinates deliveries. The chapter has at
least one splitting session per week, year round. In some years, supply and
demand have necessitated splitting through the delivery season. The Richmond
Jaycees chairperson (s) is responsible for communicating with all other
individuals and organizations involved in this project. The Richmond Jaycees
Project W.A.R.M. committee can be contacted at
rjcwarm06@richmondjaycees.org.
The
Tuckahoe Jaycees provide
manpower for both splitting and delivery. Most of the pickup trucks utilized in
delivery are provided by the Tuckahoe Jaycees. The Tuckahoe chair recruits
manpower from that chapter and communicates with the Richmond chair.
The
Chesterfield Jaycees also
provide manpower for splitting and delivery as well, they have been a welcome
addition to the Project W.A.R.M. work force the past couple of years.
In addition to its
primary goal of providing heating fuel to disadvantaged citizens of the Richmond
metropolitan area, Project WARM has several residual benefits. Some examples are
as follows:
An average of 5 trees
a day are taken down in City parks and streets. The necessary disposal of these
trees results in substantial costs. Project WARM recycles 20-25% of these trees,
thus saving the same percentage in disposal costs. These savings, in the tens of
thousands of dollars, are well in excess of the City's financial contribution to
the project.
The Fuel Assistance
Division of the Department of Social Services pays for, with tax dollars, all
the firewood used in their program. By utilizing Project WARM, tax dollars are
saved for other purposes. Charities who supply firewood in their service areas
can save those charitable dollars for other purposes. Thus, this unique
cooperative venture increases the level of service provided to Richmond's
disadvantaged families while actually reducing the outlay of tax and charitable
dollars.
In the planning and
executing of Project WARM, hundreds of lives are touched in very positive ways.
Members of different Jaycees chapters work together in and see the economically
depressed areas of the greater Richmond community. Participants can see
first-hand the fruits of their labors.
|
