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BY BRIANNA MATHIAS
Injury , illness , and natural disaster can disrupt the lives of hard-working farmers , by disabling them from working on their family farms . Luckily , there is one organization that stands ready to deliver farms from such tragedy .
Farm Rescue , created by airline pilot Bill Gross , is a non-profit organization that helps families keep their farms running during times of hardship .
“ Our mission is to help out families that have faced illnesses , accidents , and natural disasters , so they are able to continue their operations ,” Gross said .
This group provides planting , haying , and harvesting service for afflicted families who have either applied , or been referred to Farm Rescue for assistance .
“ Farmers are independent , and a lot of
Farm Horizons • Aug . 8 , 2016 • Page 8
Angels in blue Farm Rescue aids families in times of need
‘ Seeing that we ’ ve helped people , kept them out of debt , is amazing . It ’ s nice knowing we ’ re making an impact on farms throughout our region .’
– Bill Gross , founder Farm Rescue them don ’ t want to ask for help ,” Gross said . “ Half of the families are referred to us by friends or neighbors .”
Gross grew up and went to school in Cleveland , ND , a small town between Bismark and Fargo . He said he grew up on a fairly large family farm .
“ My dad had some injuries when he worked on the farm ,” Gross said . “ A hired man got killed . I saw neighbors struggle with illness . We had accidents on our farm .”
Illness and injury was only one factor that inspired Gross to start this nonprofit . Back in the ‘ 80s , Gross said , many farms had begun to struggle financially . His own family ended up having to sell around one-half of their cattle and a good portion of their land .
“ The public school closed down because there weren ’ t enough fam-
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www . HutchHealth . com Equal Opportunity Employer