Gene Forrester can tell you a story about the woman who lived way out in the middle of nowhere. A widow. Her only source of heat was the firewood she burned. The same wood she burned to fix meals.

He can tell you stories about the flood of 2007, when Olympia Kiwanians hauled cord after cord of wood more than 20 miles to Rochester, Washington, to families with submerged furnaces, no electricity, or whose firewood floated away on the retreating water.

He can tell you stories of families so gracious for the Kiwanians’ gift that they volunteered to help cut and stack wood for other families in need.

He can also tell you the story of Kiwanis One Day 2009 when Kiwanians and other volunteers cut, split and stacked eight cords of wood.

“That’s a new one-day production record,” says Firewood Project Chairman Gene Forrester.

The Kiwanis Club of Olympia started the firewood project in 1996 when a severe ice storm knocked down trees all over Thurston County. Rather than let so much potential fuel rot where it fell, the club collected, split, cut, sawed and stacked 20 cords of firewood. The next year, Kiwanians delivered the cured firewood to families and elderly people who needed help keeping their homes warm during the winter.

Every year since, the club has delivered more than 50 cords of wood. All timber is donated by individuals, tree-removal companies and Washington State’s Department of General Administration. Department of Correction crews pitch in to increase production. Capitol and Olympia High School Key Club members splint cedar logs and package the wood to give each recipient a box of kindling.

“We’ve seen families who turn off their home’s electricity during daylight hours to save money,” Forrester says.

“They can’t afford to spend up to $200 on a cord of firewood.

“Our firewood keeps them warm and safe through the winter.”

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