As winter approaches, Waldo County residents may be warmed knowing they have a place to turn if they cannot afford to heat their homes: the Waldo County Woodshed.
The concept for the Woodshed is simple: provide wood to anyone who needs it to heat their homes. The execution is more complex.
“‘How hard can it be?’ should be our slogan,” Bob MacGregor, founder and president of the Waldo County Woodshed, says. “It sounds simple, but then you start and realize it can be very hard. It’s a lot of work physically, and a lot to do all year long.”
MacGregor moved to Belfast more than 35 years ago. He works full-time as a traveling salesman in biomedical research, a job he says allows flexibility for volunteering.
He was inspired to start the Woodshed in the fall of 2014, after reading an article by University of Maine researchers that described how wood banks could benefit Mainers.
As the Woodshed’s operations have grown, its impact has increased by nearly ten-fold—now giving away roughly 180 quarter cords…
MacGregor and several of his friends have backgrounds in forestry and connections to local loggers. With all of this knowledge and experience, he figured, “How hard could it be?”and started planning to open a community woodshed the following winter.
Then, a manager at Bangor Savings Bank offered MacGregor and his friends $750 to buy wood and start their operations. The caveat: they had to spend the money that season.
So they bought the wood and dove in without a plan. They gave away 20 quarter-cords of wood in their first season.
In the decade since, they’ve grown significantly. They still use donations to buy wood at market rate from local loggers.
Next, volunteers process and split the wood at their Searsmont site.
A single volunteer, Sonja Twombly, answers calls from every person inquiring about the service and tells them which of the eight distribution sites across the county they should go to. Volunteers bring the processed wood to the distribution sites and give it away to those in need.
As the Woodshed’s operations have grown, its impact has increased by nearly ten-fold—now giving away roughly 180 quarter cords last year, and 190 the year prior.
“We’ve had a lot of generous donors who have allowed us to procure the amount of wood we need,” MacGregor says.
“We’re fortunate that we’ve been able to grow like we have and produce as much as we do on a volunteer basis.”
Barry Feero is one of the nearly 50 volunteers who contributes to the Woodshed’s operations. A self-described “Mainer all through and through,” Feero graduated from Old Town High School in 1976 and has lived in and around Brooks, in central Waldo County, for more than 40 years.
Like many volunteers, Feero first accessed the Woodshed as a recipient.
“The first time I went, I needed wood real bad,” he says. “It just really helped me out for years, and I figured I should help them out.”
Feero stepped in when the Woodshed moved to close their Monroe distribution site due to a lack of volunteers. Now he coordinates the Brooks distribution site.
What he loves most is talking with people and hearing their stories.
“I listen a lot,” he says. “It’s difficult to see how people struggle, but people do what they have to do. And we try to help out.”
The Woodshed, Feero says, is a reflection of the community. “It’s like a big family,” he says. “The people who use it also help out when it’s needed.”
The community stepped up to support the Woodshed in a critical moment in its first year, MacGregor says. One evening following a massive snowstorm, he went to their distribution site and found all of the wood was gone, save for a couple armfuls.
“It’s 10 degrees below zero and windy, and I’ve got six people coming, expecting wood to keep their homes warm,” MacGregor says. “They showed up, and I had to explain that it was gone. Even in their tough circumstances, everyone was understanding. They each took home an armload of wood.”
When it came out that someone had stolen the wood to sell it, the response from the community was overwhelming. It was the first big fundraising rush for the Woodshed, and the generous donations helped them finish out their first year successfully.
The Woodshed has changed MacGregor’s perspective on receiving aid.
“It’s a humbling experience to see how people live and to realize there’s an awful lot of people out there who need help. It’s a reminder that the need is maybe your nextdoor neighbor, or people you thought were better off,” he says. “If I needed help someday, I would know now not to be afraid to ask for it.”
If you live in the Waldo County area and need wood to heat your home this winter, learn how to access the Waldo County Woodshed by visiting: waldocountywoodshed.org/services. There’s also information about how to donate.
