A popular tongue twister asks: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
At Taylorsville United Methodist Church, The Woodchuckers are less interested in chucking wood than they are in chopping wood — to help others.
According to the Rev. Sarah Dorrance, pastor of Taylorsville United Methodist Church, The Woodchuckers outreach program started with the church men's group.
"They meet for breakfast on the second Saturday of each month," Dorrance said of the men's group. "They were looking at their skills and wondering how they could serve in the community. A lot of them like to be outdoors and had already helped others with trees that had come down. They realized this could be a ministry. They saw a need and had the skill and began doing it."
"We are just a small group of men who chop wood, store it and then deliver it to those in need," said church member and Woodchuckers volunteer Ed Edder. "We also give them tarps to cover the wood."
Edder said a church member offered a place to store the wood in an unused outbuilding on his farm. "There it can stay dry and age," Edder said. "We now have probably 22 or 23 cords of wood already stored and ready to go for this year and we are still cutting and splitting."
Dorrance said, "Cutting down wood is a big job, but these Taylorsville men can work."
The Woodchuckers program is entering its fourth year. "In our first year, we delivered about 23 or 24 cords of wood, and over the last two-year period we've given out about 75 [more] cords of wood," Edder said.
Of the nine men who serve with this program, Edder said, there are a few teens who help once in a while. "We range in age up to one gentleman who is 80 or 82," he said. "My concern is keeping the program going with some younger men. Most of us are retired and we need to be able to pass the torch to someone else who would organize the program and keep it going."
The Woodchuckers hand out a flier to let people know they will help remove good, burnable wood, but they are also looking for volunteers who are willing to work with them, and they are always open to being contacted by those in need of wood to heat their home.
"Families [in need] typically find us through one of the local churches," Edder said. "Families needing wood can contact the church or me. We also want any churches who don't know to be aware of us if they know of a family in need."
Dorrance said the wood "is not given away for recreational burning, but to people who are heating their homes with woodstoves and have the need. There are a lot of them in Carroll County."
"Because it is a mission committee of our church we do get funding from [the church]," Edder said, explaining that the funds pay for tarps and fuel. "The church owns a chain saw, but quite often chains saws and gasoline comes from our volunteers. They give a lot into this program," he said.
"I think the people who have this need have suffered through winters and would not be served any other way," Edder said of why they do it. "For many, this is their sole source of heat. We've seen people who need help and it is important that someone give it."
For more information
Those who would like to volunteer with The Woodchuckers, those who have wood to donate and those in need may call Taylorsville United Methodist Church at 410-875-4101 for additional information.
