Bill Gross | Farm Rescue: Planting Seeds of Hope
SHOW NOTES SUMMARY:
Bill Gross, the founder of the non-profit Farm Rescue, has been traveling the world with his career as a UPS pilot for the past 30 years. However, his heart never left or forgot the farm he called home in ND.
He knew he wanted to give back to ND farmers once he retired; however, a chance conversation prompted him to ask himself: “Why wait?”
We don’t know what our future has in store for us. Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today? Thoughts like these prompted Bill to not wait for Farm Rescue’s creation.
Established in 2005, Farm Rescue is now in eight states in the midwest and will serve their 1,000th family this year. Whether a farm family experiences a medical crisis, natural disaster, mental health challenge, or death of a loved one, Farm Rescue can help.
Giving back fills Bill’s heart with so much joy. Through Farm Rescue, Bill can also live out the family values passed down to him.
Learn about Farm Rescue, the hope the organization plants in the hearts of many, and more about the man behind it all in this episode.
RESOURCES:
- Apply for Assistance
- Donate
- Charity Navigator | Donate with Confidence
CONTACT:
- Website
- [email protected]
- 701-252-2017
_______
NEED HELP?
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
- Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message. Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained Crisis Counselor
If you are struggling with grief due to any of the 40+ losses, free resources are available HERE.
Are you enjoying the podcast? Check out my bi-weekly newsletter, The Unleashed Letters.
CONNECT WITH VICTORIA:
Victoria Volk 0:57
This episode is sponsored by Do Grief Differently™️. My 12 week in person or online program that helps Grievers who have suffered any type of loss to feel better, and do grief differently. You learn new tools, education, and a method you can utilize the rest of your life. In this program and with my guidance, you remove the pain of grief. The sadness will always be there because even in complicated relationships we love but it’s the pain of grief that keeps us stuck. Are you ready to do grief differently? Check out my website www.theunleashedheart.com to learn more.
Victoria Volk 1:37
Thank you for tuning in to grieving voices. today. My guest is Bill Gross. He is a North Dakota native who spent his childhood surrounded by agriculture. Like many farm kids before him Bill realized at a young age it would not be possible to continue his family’s farming legacy due to financial constraints. His parents encouraged him to seek higher education in pursuit of a better life. So Bill went on to attend the University of North Dakota to secure an undergraduate degree in BBA and was later awarded an honorary doctorate degree from human letters. During his time at UND he also secured several pilot ratings and an airline transport pilot certificate. This career path sent him to places around the globe. The Bill’s heart never left the farming and ranching community in which he was raised, which is what brings Bill to my podcast to talk to you today about his organization that he started called farm rescue. Thank you so much for being here today. Well, thank you, Victoria, for having me on. So let’s take it from there. From when you left the farming community, and pursuing your degree and, and, and all of that, and what, what brings you to the podcast today?
Bill Gross 2:54
Well, yes, I did leave the farming community, my heart never left it. My parents were not in a position to help any of us children get started in farming. And so they encouraged us to seek higher education, which all of us five children did. And as a fourth generation farm now, and we went on on our career paths and myself as an airline pilot, for UPS Airlines now for 30 years flying around the world. I’m speaking to you today from Cologne, Germany. And
Bill Gross 3:34
you know that I I always believed in helping people that you should help others in need and went on mission trips over the years through the church to Croatia, Romania and such, but I thought there’s people right, in the United States that need help also. So you know, I had that that thought in my mind all the time, but I didn’t know how I could help in the United States and flying with the CO pilots on long flights, oftentimes 1214 hours out over the Pacific Ocean, they would say what are you going to do when you retire? And that’s I was still in my 30s but I would say that I’m going to be this random Good Samaritan get a large John Deere tractor and then help farm families in my native state of North Dakota. And they actually chuckled at that they thought that was kind of a crazy idea actually. And I said you know, it’s not so crazy i I envisioned myself showing up at six in the morning and telling the farmer that you put fuel and seed in the tractor and planter and I’ll plant a few 100 acres and and I’ll move on and people say there’s this good samaritan going around just planting crops free of charge and, and I told a friend of mine years later, even after I had this idea, I hadn’t started it yet.
Bill Gross 4:46
That that I was going to do it when I retired Chaplain friend and him looking at things in a very Christian sense. He says, why wait until you retire? Bill, you don’t know what tomorrow will bring? And, and he says, Furthermore, instead of being this random Good Samaritan, he says, Isn’t farming and ranching very dangerous occupation? I said, it certainly is. It’s one of the most dangerous occupations. And he said, you know, you should, you should have a screening process, you know, to help those that maybe have an injury or illness or such and, and then, you know, furthermore, he encouraged me, he said, You should start a nonprofit, he said, instead of you doing it yourself, you should provide an avenue for other people to join in on your dream on your mission to help farm and ranch families. And so, after I left dinner with him and his wife and driving home, just about a 30 minute drive, it all came together to me, I thought, yeah, this, this is it, I’m going to start farm rescue now as a single man at the time, I can do this. And there’ll be other people that are like minded that grew up on a farm or their ancestors were farmers or ranchers, but they never stayed, but yet, they still have a love for it. And and I thought, you know, how would we get those who’d be the volunteers, right, that people would come back, some would be retired farmers, some would be younger people that just didn’t stay on the farm. And, and also that, you know, where would we get funding for it to support a mission like this, and I felt that surely there were businesses and individuals and foundations that they would like to see family farms, you know, continue, and agribusiness is a big business, one of the largest businesses in the United States, that it would be
Bill Gross 8:08
And sponsors and donors that support our mission. And again, I’d like to clarify that we don’t give money out to farm families. This is not a handout, or such as we call it a handout. It’s for a farm family that’s had a major injury, illness or natural disaster. And they just can’t get the work done themselves through no fault of their own. They just had a crisis happen. And so we come in, it’s like a big mobile farming operation and plant hay harvest or even provide livestock feeding assistance until they can get back on their feet. And so we’ve will be helping our 1000s case soon. And and thanks to all the good hearted donors and business sponsors and volunteers and media and and people like yourself, Victoria that help us raise awareness of our mission at Farm rescue so we can help more farm and ranch families and in small towns across America.
Victoria Volk 9:10
Do you list the states that you assist on your website? So
Bill Gross 9:15
we assist in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Illinois.
Victoria Volk 9:24
That’s amazing. Yeah, spot right.
Bill Gross 9:28
That’s right. It’s amazing what you can accomplish with a lot of like minded people and a altruistic compassionate mission to help others in a time of need.
Victoria Volk 9:41
How has this changed you this experience this house farm rescue changed you?
Bill Gross 9:48
Well, you know I had a heart for do have a heart for farming and ranching Of course, like I mentioned, but you know when you’re growing up like maybe in any one of us Yes Are parents just living in the farming community encouraged us to help other people and I saw my own parents help other neighbors also, but, you know, that’s not as prevalent nowadays, just because the farms are larger, and there’s not as many children on the farm and, and there just isn’t the resources available to, to help as many people. So that’s where farm rescue comes in. But what I want to say is that as you grow up, I think anyone is a teenager or, or such, you got to focus on your own accomplishments, or you have goals in your own life and, and you get, you get focused on where you are going.
Bill Gross 10:42
And some people learn this sooner than other people. Some people go through their whole life that way, but but it made me realize that there is so much more than your own goals and accomplishments in life. Yes, you need to be a productive citizen. But there’s a lot of people that you need to help along the way. And when I say along the way, I don’t mean that you say that someday, when I get to this career level, or when I have this much money, then I’m going to help people know, you know, make it a lifestyle that you help people all along the way. When you’re a teenager, when you’re in college, when you’re an adult, even if things aren’t so good for yourself, you know, it all comes around for good. And that’s what how it has really changed me the rewards I’ve gotten in starting farm rescue, and I still am the chairman of the board, guiding farm rescue forward leading it that the rewards have gotten from that are 100 fold from any any reward I would have gotten from just focusing on my own life. Right. It’s, it’s truly amazing. So I would encourage people if they if they want to help, don’t wait till Sunday, and you don’t know where that path will lead you in helping other people. And the rewards will surprise you.
Bill Gross 12:19
You know, just the gratification in knowing that you’re doing something good in life. And and the difference you’re making in other people’s lives is has has a multiplier effect.
Victoria Volk 12:31
I firmly believe that one way that we can help people to understand even like depression, like depression, right? Way out of depression is by helping people. It makes you feel good. Like it brings about feel feel good feelings, right? When you’re being of service, you’re helping someone else. So even if it’s just opening the door, and I think we can just small acts of service. It doesn’t have to be starting a nonprofit, we can do it in smallest of ways that if you’re struggling, I can help you to feel better just by helping someone else feel better.
Bill Gross 13:13
That’s correct. You know, when you take the focus off of yourself and focus on others, it’ll lift both of you up is just what you’re saying Victoria? And then again, people that you know beyond that the person you’re helping you know, that will help the people they know also.
Victoria Volk 13:32
Did your parents get to see this come to fruition?
Bill Gross 13:37
No My parents never did. My dad died in 2000. I started it in 2005. My mother passed away in May of 2005. She never did.
Bill Gross 13:51
She never did see any farm rescue cases are such during their time on this on this earth. Did she know about it though? Because he had started it in 2005. But you know, yeah, you know, I, I may have mentioned it to her as you know, she was in very poor medical health and in a hospital on such and such in the last days of her life. They don’t know if, you know, she fully comprehended was what what I had started so
Victoria Volk 14:25
I’m sure they’re very proud of you. They were very proud of you.
Bill Gross 14:29
That’s good.
Victoria Volk 14:30
Can we talk about that, that maybe the grief that comes about of you know, the family farm, dissipating and not continuing on and how many people many farm families find themselves in that situation? And it’s that intangible grief that, you know, can continue through the generation right because you as a child of your parents who had the family farm, I imagine that you kind of carry some of that and and this is Is your way to come back to the farm and in a sense, so can you speak to that a little bit and maybe what you’ve seen in your, the farm rescue experience of helping farmers?
Bill Gross 15:11
Well, Victoria, that’s that’s a very valid point. And that is true. I can speak upon my own family and some of the families that we have helped at Farm rescue, I’ll start with my own family. And that, yes, there was five of us, children, I was the youngest. And due to financial constraints, none of us were able to start farming, like I mentioned, the folks were not able to help us, they just didn’t have the financial resources to do such. And, you know, this family farm on my folks, and now that myself and my brother on is a multi generational farm. And I think what I’m saying here holds true for a lot of farm families that they would like to see their children continue on their legacy, like I said, in a multi generational farm, but yet, they know that maybe they can’t financially, or it’s going to be a great struggle for the children. And they encourage them to go on to seek other careers, or in my case, higher education. And I would encourage anyone to always seek higher education, it just gives you more opportunities. So my parents encouraged that. But of course, they always said, you can always come back, you know, as you can always come back the children, any one of you are welcome to come back and farm if the farm is still here, because of financial challenges. And, you know, at that time, none of the children of us children came back and farmed. I, I bought a little bit of land, and so did my brother from, from my parents. And I remember when a neighbor would stop by, and they, my dad, there was such pride in his voice, even though he was in his 70s. He’d say, Billy, they used to call me, Billy, Billy bought this quarter of land over here. That’s all he’d say, you know. So I think it was his glimmer of hope that maybe I would come back and farm, that there was a connection still to the farm and carry on his legacy. But my dad passed away in my mom, without any of us children truly coming back, and, you know, farming farming the land as a whole. And I won’t say it disturbed my dad or parents, but it gave them grief. I mean, I think there’s a form of grief, what I’m trying to say. And in all farm families, when they don’t see their legacy go on, they maybe took over the farm from, from their parents, and, and then they worked hard and raised a family. And then now they see it so often, the children go on to another career, and they’re not able to continue that legacy. And that can only think going through my father and mother’s mind or and along with these, any farm family that maybe they failed somehow maybe had they done things differently, they would have had different, you know, financial resources to help the children or maybe they they didn’t foster the, the farming legacy not for such or, or maybe they were too hard on their children. They didn’t want to, you know, work hard, you know, as that hard going on, you know, I’m sure there’s all kinds of thoughts that go through a farm or ranch family and, and there is a grief, I’m 100% positive, especially my dad had grief in feeling like it was his doing that the family farm legacy of the multi generational farm wasn’t going, going to continue.
Bill Gross 19:00
And you I see that in cases we help that farm rescue also they don’t say it, but I can see it in between the lines. So it really is just the mom and pop whose whose whose they’re trying to make a go of it.
Bill Gross 19:43
Yes, you may have your spouse and such but you’re you’re alone there. That’s the nature of their work, right. They’re prideful, independent people. God bless them a lot. A lot of farmers and ranchers I mean people wouldn’t want to do that type of work. Most people in the united states out there in the in the In the elements in the cold weather and, and all that work day and night, but God bless them, but it is a work a lot of times in solitude, and then with financial challenges and such, maybe they took on a lot of debt over the years, and now they’re, they’re struggling to pay that it can become overwhelming is what I’m saying. And we see that and we have helped in, in mental health cases at Farm rescue also, it just becomes overwhelming. And we have seen suicides, of course, and that’s a upward trend among in the farming community. And what I’m saying is, it quickly can overwhelm a person, this grief, of being alone, your children are gone, that you’ve, you know, maybe think you’re you’ve failed this, and the land is going to be gone, that’s been in the farm family for generations. And, and you’re alone, and there’s there’s no way out in order. That’s, that’s how it always is right? When people take some action, be it in, in drugs or suicide or such they feel like there’s there’s not a way forward. So when farm rescue comes in, we’ve had many people tell us that it just lift the burden off of them. And they had a new look on outlook on life. And even the fact that all these volunteers came and were around them and the camaraderie and that they see a way forward has made all the difference in them not not only just getting the fiscal work done the planting or harvesting for their livelihood, but for their emotional well being also, farm rescue gives them hope. Yes, we then sometimes we plant seeds of hope.
Victoria Volk 21:42
Oh, that’s wonderful. And that should be your slogan. Yes. Because here’s the thing. It’s like when you think of the farmer, right, when when I just living in Greenville, North Dakota, right, I and I see it and my, my day job is in crop insurance, I see it, you know, they’re independent people that have a really difficult time asking for help. And I think it can be very humbling. When you see these, this army of support coming in the form of combines and tractors and the equipment and things to help them. It can be very humbling. And I think that that alone, it’s like, people do care. There is hope. I think it yes, you plant seeds of hope. I 1,000% agree with that. And, you know, to kind of circle back what you had shared earlier. You know, it’s this intangible grief, right, that you can’t, most people don’t have the language for that, to express what they’re feeling about the legacy not continuing the farm family, not continuing things like that. And we’re all whether we’re farmers or not, we can be one medical setback from homelessness. I mean, there are so many veterans that have become homeless because of mental health challenges, or physical or medical issues you had mentioned. And before we started to record that your dad was a world war two veteran, he didn’t get a college education. I have a really soft spot for veterans. And so just thinking about your dad and the toil, right, the day and night toil for him to build what he did for the family. And to not see that I imagine that like you said, there was some heartbreak in that, but also pride to every one of you went and got your degree and pursued a career. I just think we can all be fragile in that, that we aren’t guaranteed what’s going to happen tomorrow. And so whether it’s farm rescue that comes in to help us or even the neighbor, the main thing is that we have a hard time asking for help. And help is out there. Whether it is your neighbor, or whether you’re not a farmer and you just had, you’re the breadwinner of the family can’t work anymore due to cancer or whatever the case is. I think there’s a lot of organizations and support out there, nonprofits like yours. And that’s why I’m devoted this season of grieving voices to highlight these nonprofits that are doing amazing things that are bringing hope to people in times of great distress. So thank you for following that spark of an idea. And for that friend who shared his wisdom with you, because farm rescue wouldn’t be here today.
Bill Gross 24:43
That’s right. You know, and you really said it. Well, Victoria. The grief is not spoken by these farm families or a lot of people you don’t have to be a farmer. It’s you can see it in them. It’s an unspoken it’s there. It’s a deep.
Bill Gross 25:00
And it humbles them when we come in help. They’re just so grateful. They’re not the type of people to ask for help. And a lot of people are that way, of course. But I think what if you said, how this has changed me. Another way it’s changed me is it’s made me realize that we all need help through life at one time or another to one extent or another. There’s no shame in asking for help. It’s actually a good thing. I view it as a form of strength actually, that you need to know what your limitations are, when you’re down and out. And when the appropriate time is that ask for help. And I think a person that can see that actually, is displaying a form of strength. They’re not only asking for help, but they’re, they’re showing that they’re using good judgment. And, and so it’s made me a much more humble person, and compassionate person. And also that, yeah, through the grace of God, we’re just, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re one, any one of us are one step away from something devastating happening to us, it could be cancer, it could be a car accident, it could be anything, and, and the sooner you realize that life, how fragile life is, and the more you appreciate life, and and want to help other people going through a challenging time. And lastly, I’ll say, sometimes I’m asked but inspires you to keep doing farm rescue to keep keep going on. And, and I say, you know, it’s, it’s actually, all the people that come from around the United States, all the other volunteers, and all the people that I see that are so passionate about what we do and and that they’ve come forward with a good heart to help our mission. How can you not get caught up in that, and just build upon that? So yes, I mean, it’s inspiring to see other people help others, it really is and inspires yourself to do the same. And we’re going to help a lot more people at Farm rescue, and then we’re going to continue to grow farm rescue, and we’re going to do as much good as we can. As far as I’m concerned, in my lifetime, we’re going to touch as many families as we can. And you know, the families and their children and such and, and maybe we opened doors by helping that family, maybe their children can now go to higher education. And they go on to do things, you know, like I did, that they wouldn’t have been able to do before. You’ll never live to see all the dividends of your good works in your life.
Victoria Volk 27:44
You know, I always say there’s ripples of grief. But I think there’s also ripples of hope. Yes. So just as you mentioned, the children see it, too. And who knows how the impact that that has on them? Which guarantee bar none it does because when you lift that burden of the parents, you are lifting the burden of the children.
Victoria Volk 28:06
Yeah, so most of the farm families that you do help it’s generally a medical crisis of some sort. I mean, because it is one of the most dangerous occupations as you mentioned,
Bill Gross 28:18
The majority of our cases are medical you know like any one of us there’s there’s a lot of medical things that can happen to you you know, we see a lot of cancer cases both for the husband or the wife and or we even had some cancer cases in the children unfortunately have young children but we see a lot of you know, cancer and every every type of medical thing you can imagine any one of us could, could have you know, brain tumors, cancer, you know, broken legs, arms, severed limbs, car accidents, equipment, accidents, a lot a lot of medical and and injuries. Those are the of course the injuries and illnesses are by far the majority of our of our cases and then we have a small percentage that are natural disasters, right so we help out also if there’s like a drought and I think we hauled few years ago 300 Semi loads of hay into western North Dakota during a drought that to help ranchers in such a way that was donated all over the United States and then we have a fleet of semi trucks and mobilized it and and and so in, in droughts in floods, wildfires we’ve helped down in Nebraska and Kansas and and all sorts of you know, tornadoes Of course, places destroyed by tornadoes and, and such. So any kind of natural disasters is somewhere in our eight state region. There’s always a natural disaster every year it seems like so that’s a percentage of our cases also.
Victoria Volk 29:59
So you I’m discussing how it may be difficult for people to ask for help. If someone listening to this farmer friend of a farmer or something, and they’re going through a mental health challenge, you don’t have to have a limb severed, or you don’t have to have a terrible diagnosis. Maybe you want to just be able to take some time to focus on yourself and in work through your mental health challenges. That’s where you can come in to write I mean, I don’t want people to think that they have to have this, like, oh, well, my my situation isn’t as bad as theirs. You know what I mean? We can kind of have that mentality to where we compare our despair to others.
Bill Gross 30:44
You’re exactly correct, Victoria, we oftentimes get foreign families that call us in, and they say, Well, you know, I don’t know if I should apply. I’m just calling But surely you have people that are, you know, more seriously, or worse off than I am. And, and one example I’ll give you of how, how prideful and independent farm families are. Farmer years ago, called us up out, he was south of Dickinson, North Dakota. And he, he was during harvest time in the midst of harvest, and he was inquiring about our program, and he said those very words, but boy, you must have a full schedule helping people and then there must be people more, you know, in serious conditions than me and, and I said, So what what happened to you? He says, Oh, I got my hand cut off. He says, you know, a few days ago, in a Columbine, I said, so he said, you got your hand cut off. And you feel there’s other people that you shouldn’t apply for assistance that have more serious things. So land just really, really goes to show that how prideful and independent these people are. And yes, they always think that there’s someone else that is more deserving than them. So we don’t want anyone to think that you can call farm rescue talk to us. And in Yes, we help in mental health issues, mental illness, mental health, you can call us or a family member that’s listening to this, oftentimes, it’s the person who has, you know, is dealing with a mental health challenge. They’re not the person who’s gonna call, it’s usually a family member, it may be a spouse, it may be a child,
Bill Gross 32:37
or maybe a neighbor, or such a friend. So go ahead and call us everything is kept confidential. And yes, we have helped in many mental health cases where the person with the mental health issue just needed some downtime, maybe they need some to go for some counseling or treatment. And we free up that time by getting the work done. So they can get back to a good state of mind. And so yes, we do help in those cases.
Victoria Volk 33:10
And I just think of the impact that that has on their mental health, again, just circling back to the planting the seeds of hope. So I think that’s yeah, I love that you include that too, in your, in your assistance for farmers, because especially like you touched on it earlier, but the suicide rate is climbing in the farming community, and I see it just in my area, do you find that it’s older population? Or is it getting younger and younger you think,
Bill Gross 33:39
you know, I used to think it was just the older population. But what I’ve seen over the years at Farm rescue is it’s becoming the younger population where we see suicides also. And, you know, we cover an eight state regents so, you know, a lot of times like you said, all you, someone knows of someone around their area where they live, but when you look at it on a bigger footprint, we see a fair number of suicides on a fortune, unfortunately, in a larger geographical area. And, and it’s it’s a younger group, it may be a younger farmer, unfortunately, and sadly for anyone, but sometimes it may. Nowadays you hear it in the national news and stuff, it may be one of their children, you know, through bullying or whatever other reason, such it’s just, it’s just sad the whole way around. I can hardly talk about it. You know, unfortunately, I think in in our society nowadays. Again, people don’t don’t see a way forward, you know, be it as a young person or as a 40 year old or such and it just becomes overwhelming and they don’t feel like there’s anyone to turn to, or that there’s not help, or they don’t, they don’t speak up. And that’s a big message we need to get through to people that, that there is always help. There is always hope you may not feel there. There isn’t. But there is there’s always that sliver, that glimmer of hope someone will help you through a difficult situation you should never ever turn to the thoughts of, of suicide. So there’s, there’s always help.
Victoria Volk 35:34
Do you ever recognize your dad going through things that maybe he didn’t even talk about? You kind of knew that he was maybe, you know, going through some stuff. I mean, being a world war two veteran, I can’t imagine what he saw. Right? I’m a veteran myself, but I’m just curious how you saw that maybe translating into his, the way that he lived his life and into farming and how maybe that showed up for him. And, and maybe it didn’t maybe he was very good at at hiding it. You know, I think just being where I live, we they call it the Iron Curtain. Very German, very German, stoic German, we don’t ask for help you pull yourself up by your bootstraps type of mentality. And so I just, you know, wanted to kind of touch on that a little bit of just in the Midwest in general. I mean, that’s just kind of, I mean, we live in the northern climate look at where we live. Like, you have to be kind of, I mean, we’re in a snowpocalypse right now. It’s like, it’s just never ending, it seems, but with the cold and the snow and all of that, so it kind of hardens you, I think, just living where we live.
Bill Gross 36:44
You know Yes, my ancestry is German with the last name Gross, and my dad being in World War Two. And yes, he was a hearty individual and, and grew up in the area that you’re talking about, you have to be, and so on, it’s it’s not an easy life, no matter if you’re a person working in town or or out in the farm, it’s just the geographical area lends to some challenges that you don’t normally have. But from World War Two, you know, my dad was a very quiet person, like a lot of that transit didn’t really talk about things he saw. And, you know, toward the end of his life, he talked about a couple of occasions where, and we didn’t know this until someone looked at his military orders later and told us so my, my dad was the equivalent of like a, like a sniper, like Special Forces reconnaissance, and he would go ahead of the front line and conduct his mission, and sometimes by himself, or a very small team, and then they would come back to the front line and, and he talked about how they went around. And I don’t know all the details, but went ahead of the front line. And then when he came back, his buddies were all killed, that were on the front line there. And if you saw my dad cry over that, and such, you know, I think he felt responsible that he wasn’t there to help them. Right. And, but yes, how hearty person and wouldn’t talk about hardship? Should we say,
Victoria Volk 38:24
And I think it comes back to that solitude aspect you’re speaking to earlier, and it can be very easy to isolate yourself in your own feelings. And, you know, because like you said, farming can be a very a solo experience, right? You’re, you’re just you and nature, and you’re just a lot of alone time, right. And so I think, what do you do with all that alone time is think and think and think and think right? And so I think that can be not the best situation for for some people. And so I think just being able to have finding someone that you can talk to and feeling that it’s okay.
Bill Gross 39:04
You have a lot of time on the farm, like I said, in that solitude to rethink run things through your mind over and over. And like any one of us, you know, you don’t want to have regrets in life. Regrets are a hard thing. You know, there’s most things in life, you don’t have a redo, you can’t change them. And you have to find a way to move forward and deal with that.
Victoria Volk 39:31
And with your organization, you plant seeds of hope. That’s one way that people can experience the love and support of their community. So encourage anyone who is a doubter if this applies to them or could help them to, to rethink that solo mentality and ask for help.
Bill Gross 39:53
That’s right. That’s right. There is always someone that cares and will help and you know, never think you’re alone. Be that a teenager a child or, or a middle aged or elderly person, there’s plenty of people that have love and compassion and want to help and will help make things better.
Victoria Volk 40:13
I will take that as your one tip for hurting heart. Is there anything else that you’d like to share about farm rescue? And anything you have coming up? If applications are always open? Or do you have an application window for timeframe like how does all that work?
Bill Gross 40:28
People can apply at any time of the year. But yes, we’re accepting planting applications for the spring, and people should just contact us at farm rescue.org or at 701-252-2017. They can call and ask questions and apply or you can even nominate a, it doesn’t have to be for yourself. If you know someone, like we said that needs help.
Bill Gross 41:31
And it opens the door for us to help them. So I highly encourage people to refer or nominate a family that’s going through a difficult time. And in the vast majority of those cases, we end up helping that farm family.
Victoria Volk 41:48
I love that I did not know that. So thank you for sharing that. And I will put the phone number and the website in the show notes how people can reach for rescue. And are you looking to expand further?
Bill Gross 42:01
We are we are you know, as funds allow and and, you know, through donors and sponsors and such. And as long as there’s a legitimate need. Yes, we are looking to do that. But you know, we always need funding for just what we have the irons in the fire right now to help throughout North Dakota and in South Dakota, Minnesota and the states we’re in and if anyone wishes to donate, they can donate online securely. Or you can mail in a check to farm rescue peal box 28, Horace North Dakota 58047. And, you know, the board members are all volunteers. We work primarily with volunteers have a very small staff. We use our funds efficiently. And we don’t hand them out to people like we said we do it just to get the job done. And many places have said you know farm rescue is a true nonprofit. And we would greatly appreciate any donations to help our cause and admission so we can so we can help more farm families.
Victoria Volk 43:10
Thank you so much for sharing about farm rescue. I’m so glad that I followed my nudge to bring farm rescue to grieving voices to share your mission because I feel like it is a beautiful gift that is available to people where I call home in North Dakota. So thank you so much for for sharing today. And thank you for being my guest.
Bill Gross 43:35
Well thank you, Victoria, thank you for having me as a guest and thank you for for what you do to help people go through, you know, grieving times and to show that there is hope and, and to talk about it when what you’re talking about is is oftentimes things that people don’t want to talk about, right. So thank you for bringing that to the forefront.
Victoria Volk 44:01
It is my this is my mission in my work. So thank you for being a part of my mission to and remember when you unleash your heart you unleash your life. Much love.