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Firewood fundraiser for the Elk’s Club

The Elk's Club has started a new firewood fundraiser.

The Elk’s Club is embarking on a new fundraiser this fall by providing firewood to anyone who needs it. For $135, the Elk’s Club will deliver a “heaping” truckload of split larch firewood anywhere it has to go in the Elk Valley.

The fundraiser was inspired by similar initiatives elsewhere, and Alan Westhaven, one of the organizers of the fundraiser, believed it to be a good fit for Fernie because many households require firewood for heat during the winter.

“Larch is actually the most desirable firewood that you can get in this area. We are fortunate in that, it’s considered to be better quality for more heat and less smoke and ash than say spruce or pine so it’s a very high quality wood. It generates a lot of heat,” said Westhaven.

Jemi Corporation is donating a logging truckload of larch to the Elk’s Club, which they will then buck, split and deliver. The fundraiser will span weeks, continuing as long as there is supply and demand for the wood. “We expect that we will be doing this over a span of several weeks. As the orders come in, we will cut the wood and get it to people,” Westhaven said. “We have, I have some orders placed now, but we are just getting started. [Households] got to have it anyway, and it’s a reasonable price.”

All of the funds raised by the sale of firewood will go towards local charities and groups that the Elk’s Club support.

“Many organizations come to us, like the society for community living, looking for assistance with the youth camps or transportation, families in need,” said Westhaven. “Our major charity that we donate to across Canada is hearing, especially young children that have hearing impairment. Every month we get requests and we do our best to fulfill them but we have to have the funds to keep that up.”

Westhaven said that the Elk’s Club would do their best to assist those who need help stacking and piling the wood on their property and that they will keep the fundraiser running as long as there is interest. “We are only planning on doing one logging truck worth of wood, which will generate probably 18 or 20 quarts of wood. If everything goes great, we might take on a little bit more, but that’s what we are planning on doing right now,” he said.

To place an order and arrange a delivery, email elksfirewood@gmail.com or call 250-423-7769.