I love stories like this, stories about people helping others in need, without expecting anything in return.
It's always good to have friends and neighbors you can rely on and Ron Edwards obviously has some great ones.
The 47-year-old Manitoba farmer had planted more than 300 hectares of wheat, oats and canola in the spring. Then he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemotherapy and open lung surgery. He was in no shape to harvest his crops.
Fortunately, more than 20 people — some he barely knew — pitched in to help get the crop off, saving him thousands of dollars in hired help.
"A combine is worth a lot of money. Some of them run $100, $150 an hour. I know some guys worked a day, two days, three days even, and they didn't charge anything at all for their machines," he said.
At one point, he said, he looked out his window and saw six combines working in his fields. [Link]
That's what you get when you combine kindness and selflessness. The farming community is like that -- they're always helping each other, perhaps because they're not caught up in the rat race, not trying so hard to get ahead that they have no time for their friends and neighbors. When was the last time you heard one of them say, "I'm just a farmer, but someday I'd like to be the CFO -- Chief Farming Officer."
"That was something to see. It was hard not to get emotional when you think of all the people that came out to help," said Edwards, who took out two advertisements in local papers to thank everyone who helped.
"Words can't express how I feel about everybody that helped. It's so amazing. I don't know what to say." [Link]
We're often amazed when we hear of people helping other people, not so amazed when we hear of people robbing other people. Perhaps that's because the newspapers are full of crime stories. Try doing a good deed and see how many reporters come to your door. One or two perhaps -- if your aunt works at the local paper. But commit a terrible crime and the media will swarm to your door like you're dating Jennifer Aniston.
Photo by hedgerowmobile
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