Cuba Township to pass out free wood twice a month instead of every Friday due to supply-and-demand issues.
Cuba Township Road District’s “Firewood Friday” giveaway of firewood returned earlier this month, but the program will work somewhat differently this season, according to officials.
“We’ve had to rein it in a little bit. It used to be every Friday through the winter months. It’s not every other Friday but it works out to be twice a month, November through March,” Thomas J. Podgorski, who has been Cuba Township highway commissioner since 2017, told Pioneer Press.
Starting Nov. 4 through the winter months, the road district provides free kindling – bundles that can be a mix of everything from maple, pine and oak to mulberry and chokecherry – to township residents who’ve signed up for the program.
Podgorski explained that each bundle contains eight to 12 pieces of wood, and each participating household is limited to two bundles. The distribution is at the road district office on a first-come, first-served basis until the supply is exhausted. At Friday’s distribution, the district ran out of firewood before 1 p.m. Nov. 18
“It’s meant for weekend fires. It’s not meant for someone to heat their houses off it. The quantity is not there,” said Podgorsk.
According to Podgorski, more than 800 Cuba Township residents are signed up for the program. He said Cuba Township Road District – which covers Lake Barrington, North Barrington, Tower Lakes and small portions of Barrington Hills and Barrington – shifted Firewood Friday from every other Friday during the 2021-2022 season to twice monthly for the 2022-2023 to better serve participants.
“The demand outpaces our supply. These are trees that were taken down through the year. It’s a way to process and get rid of wood we collect [throughout] the year,” said Podgorski.
Residents signed up for the program are given a placard to hang from the rearview mirror of their vehicle, the commissioner explained. The placard is required to participate in the complimentary distribution, and anyone new to the program would have to contact the Cuba Township Road District to get it.
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