Kingdom Firewood Ministry still seeking help

GATE CITY – Kingdom Firewood Ministry has built its service to Scott County residents on the fallen timber from Hurricane Helene, but organizers say there is still plenty to do and room for volunteers. Kevin Barnett and Michael Egan had the idea to take advantage of the wreckage from Helene by gathering and cutting timber into cords of firewood for families and residents dealing with financial hardship and rising utility costs. Within a month of Helene's sweep through the county, Barnett and Egan had gathered volunteers to start cutting and splitting fallen trees into the first of 12 cords of firewood to season in time for distribution this year. Much of the wood has come from county and Gate City debris collection. By the summer of 2025, the ministry had gotten requests by 12 families for help. Barnett said that has climbed to more than 30 households as of November. Many area landowners have helped supply more firewood in recent months, as Colonial Heights resident Tim Rawls did recently when he hauled four pickup truckloads of wood he had cut and split from fallen trees on his property. "I heard about the ministry from an article in the Kingsport paper and decided I needed to help," Rawls said as he handed wood to Barnett, Egan and volunteer Quentin Miles. "The community is still responding with donations of firewood," said Barnett, "and we've had people help cut ands stack, but when it comes to delivery it's Mike and me. Between his work and my ministry, it's hard to cover the entire county." "We want this to continue beyond us," Egan added. "We can definitely use more volunteers." Barnett said he hopes more area churches can connect with the ministry and set up their own firewood banks to make the service more accessible to those in need. "If we had, say, a firewood station in Rye Cove and other parts of the county," said Barnett, "that would make deliveries easier." The ministry works on a delivery-only basis, said Barnett, with clients understanding that the firewood is for their use only and not to be sold. For information on Kingdom Firewood Ministry, call Barnett at (276) 594-8105 or Egan at (276) 885-5347. Donations for equipment can be mailed to Scott County Christian Social Ministries, Firewood, 112 Library Ave., Gate City, Va. 24251.