Bennington County joins ‘Wheels for Warmth’

Read the full article at benningtonbanner.com. Below is an excerpt.

A 20-year program intended to address two major winter costs for Vermonters, winter tires and heating fuel, is coming to Bennington County.

Described as “a win-win event for Vermonters to help Vermonters,” Wheels for Warmth was founded by now-Governor Phil Scott in 2005 to make low cost tires available before winter begins while keeping bad or discarded tires off of roadways and out of streams – and all funds raised through the initiative provide heating fuel for Vermonters in need through BROC Community Action, Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO), and Capstone Community Action.

While local construction and waste company Casella has administered the program out of Rutland County for more than a decade, Wheels for Warmth will extend southward in 2025 thanks to a new collaboration with the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department.

“It’s a good cause – it helps people raise money for heating fuel in the cold and it helps people buy affordable tires before the winter,” said Corporal Scott Legacy of the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department. “So we wanted to have our facility be used the first time Wheels for Warmth came to Bennington”

According to Jake Rick, operations manager at Casella Construction, the initiative found natural synergy with the company, which manages fleets of vehicles. There is also a natural connection to Gov. Scott, he said, who was a co-owner of his own family construction business for more than 30 years before entering politics.

“We're part of the community too, and it's really important to us to give back,” Rick said. “It just seems like it's a great win-win situation for all.”