Twenty Below Zero and Twenty Firewood Deliveries

For the second time this winter (by my count) we fell to twenty below zero last night in Pine Ridge. The Little Wound (Kyle) community bottomed out at -24º this morning, setting a new record low.

Month to date, we have completed 108 firewood deliveries. That effort is a testament to the hard work of Bill, Lane, Michelle (welcome back!), Sidney and Will — and Kim’s incredible coordination in the office.

Read more about a typical day of firewood deliveries and our winter heating assistance program in this blog post from last month.

We have completed twenty deliveries so far this week, but ran out of cut and split wood earlier today. We were able to cut and split for a couple hours on Monday morning before shutting down our outside work. Fortunately, we had stockpiled enough wood to keep up with requests until today’s calls.

Another Cold Night For Many Families

As of this writing, 16 firewood requests are pending, and the phone continues to ring. With overnight temperatures again expected to drop below zero, it will be a cold night for these families.

We will do our best to get caught up tomorrow. Thursday’s high of 17º is a step in the right direction. By early next week, we should be back in the 50s.

When the temperatures drop below about 10º we have to shut down the woodpile. Our saws literally freeze up, and it is not safe for our staff to endure the elements.

Every year, we hear stories of folks burning trash, shoes, clothing — even tearing apart the bunk beds that we build — to produce some heat on the coldest of nights.

Although this winter has — by South Dakota standards — been fairly mild, there is no avoiding the arctic outbreaks at least a few times each year. We haven’t had “the big blizzard” yet, but we definitely need the moisture that such a storm would bring. We’ll see what the rest of this winter, and spring has in store for us.

Thanks To Your Support

Season to date (going back to November) we have exceeded 450 deliveries of firewood. We have also purchased more than 5,600 gallons of propane and home heating oil, and assisted with multiple past-due electric bills.

Re-Member will continue to provide assistance through the conclusion of the winter heating season as additional funding allows. We are grateful for your support, as it makes our work possible.

Firewood deliveries will continue into March.