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places that Farm Rescue serves: South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and eastern Montana.
• "Farm Rescue helps farmers in their immediate crisis, with planting and harvesting," said Gross, who grew up on a North Dakota farm and now makes his living flying a cargo plane out of Anchorage, Alaska. "After that, there's the Farm Rescue Foundation, helping during their recovery process."
• Gross started Farm Rescue in 2006 with just a handful of volunteers and very little money, to provide physical labor for farmers stricken by injury, illness or a disaster. It has since evolved into a nonprofit corporation with a board of directors, a handful of paid staff and an annual operating budget approaching half a million dollars. It still relies on donations, business sponsors and volunteer laborers -- it has a database of nearly 1,000 of them nationwide.
• Gross said he had wanted to start the foundation for a while and was finally able to do so this year with a $50,000 anonymous donation.
• "We don't give money out, just like Farm Rescue," he said. "We either buy some specialized equipment or get it sponsored, or a combination of the two."
• Kakela, who is still recovering and easing his way back into farm work, received equipment that will enable him to unload grain without having to climb out of his truck. Two years ago, the planting aid he received through Farm Rescue helped (Continued on page 36)
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