Farm Rescue founder’s speech gets big response

By ELOISE OGDEN, Regional Editor eogden@minotdailynews.com
POSTED: September 4, 2008

Bill Gross of Cleveland speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul , Minn., Tuesday. 

ST. PAUL , Minn. - Bill Gross, founder and president of Farm Rescue, was barely off the stage after giving his speech about Farm Rescue at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night when he started getting e-mails from around the country.

"As soon as I finished, I started receiving e-mails about the speech saying 'What a good organization,'" Gross said.

He said some of the e-mails were for donations to the organization and some were from people who wanted to volunteer. The e-mails continued to arrive Wednesday, he said.

Gross said he was "somewhat nervous" giving the speech to such a large crowd. He told the convention-goers filling the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., that it's becoming increasingly hard for farm families to make a living, and when they suffer a crisis it's important to lend a helping hand.

A native of Cleveland, N.D., Gross founded Farm Rescue in 2006. It is a nonprofit organization which helps farmers in crisis. It is the only organization of its kind in the nation.

Since 2006, Farm Rescue has provided free spring planting or harvesting assistance to 65 farmers. The organization began in North Dakota and does limited work in neighboring states.

A pilot for UPS, Gross said he worked hard to achieve his goal to become a 747 captain for UPS, but while flying across the oceans of the world, he kept thinking back to his roots in North Dakota and the "people of rural America and small town American who need a helping hand when an unexpected crisis strikes."

Gross spoke of three of the farmers that Farm Rescue has helped, including Lowell Harvickson, who had his arm severed in a farm accident; Paul Henderson, who fell from a grain dryer and broke his back; and Shane Oakland, a 26-year-old beginning farmer who is receiving chemotherapy treatments for cancer.

Harvickson and his wife, Debbie, live in Willow City, Henderson and his wife, Donna, are from Calvin and Oakland lives in Rock Lake.

"These farmers and many others would have faced disaster had it not been for the assistance of Farm Rescue, a nonprofit organization which I founded," Gross said in his speech.

"Family farms are the foundations of agriculture. They provide a safe and abundant food supply for everyone in America. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for family farmers to make a living and almost impossible to survive during a crisis," Gross told the convention audience.

Farm Rescue, with its headquarters in Jamestown, plants and harvests crops free of charge for farm families who have experienced a major illness, injury or natural disaster, Gross said. He said the organization does not give money to farmers it's not a financial bailout or handout.

"We give them an opportunity to continue their livelihood during an unexpected crisis," Gross said.

Gross said the organization is unique because it is run by volunteers.

"Neither the board of directors nor I receive any compensation," he said.

He said the organization's success has only been possible because of "the good-hearted volunteers" who give their time and share their skills "from planting or harvesting fields to designing Web sites and assisting with fundraising."

The organization has grown to have more than 100 companies as its sponsors.

Gross told the convention crowd the organization is a success "because people are eager to rally behind ideas that inspire them and leaders who motivate them."

He said anyone can be a leader or a follower, but "what is important is that you find it in your heart to make time to provide service to others."

Gross urged those attending the convention not to wait until next year, next month or for a major disaster to occur but to "start doing something now to help others, whether it's committing a month, a weekend or just a few hours. Above all, make it a way of life."

He told the convention audience that the "true heroes among us are the hundreds of thousands of volunteers throughout our nation who step forward every day to provide service to others in a time of need.

"Help your country and the cause of service by putting others first and getting involved in a volunteer effort in your hometown," Gross said.

Gross said Wednesday that for the harvest season Farm Rescue has completed the small grains, but will start again in October on soybeans.

On Oct. 17 , Farm Rescue will hold a dinner for the farm families the organization has helped over the three years, the volunteers and anyone else interested. The dinner will be held in the Gladstone Inn in Jamestown beginning with a social at 4:30 p.m. followed by the dinner. For more information and to make reservations for the dinner, call Farm Rescue at 252-2017.

Reprinted with Permission of the Minot Daily News, Sept. 4, 2008.