In addition to dealing with devastating erosion and loss of livestock caused by recent flooding across Nebraska, farmers are faced with massive amounts of debris that need to be cleaned up. Seventh graders Caden Sporhase and Caiden Krueger, pictured from left, do their part to help out, removing a fallen power pole from a field near Genoa, Nebraska.
Loving thy Nebraska neighbor
At a time of year when most farmers are concerned with getting corn planted, many across Nebraska are facing the aftermath of flooding that occurred in the middle of March. A group of four recently made the trip from Holyoke to Genoa, Nebraska, to help with cleanup, and even the drive there was striking.
Along the way, there were normal looking farming operations, looking as you’d expect them to in April. As they got closer to their destination, Ivan Wiebke said, the damage became more and more visible.
Wiebke is a member of Fellowship of Christian Farmers International, an organization founded in the ’80s for farmers to support one another. Through FCFI, Wiebke has gone on several trips to build churches in Jamaica and to help with hurricane relief in Louisiana. From April 18-20, he was joined by neighbor Jim Kienholz, grandson Caden Sporhase and his buddy Caiden Krueger in Genoa, where they helped farmers impacted by the flooding.
A conviction that he’s been blessed and should pay it forward to others inspires Wiebke to serve on such trips, and he makes a point to take others along whenever he can.
During their time in Nebraska, the four from Holyoke helped clean up debris that littered the fields. They used a tractor with a bucket and grapple hook along with a four wheeler to clear branches, railroad ties, feed bunks, aluminum irrigation pipe and power poles that were swept along by floodwaters.
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