Farmers from Floyd County, Texas in the United States recently converged when one of their own could no longer harvest his crops for the season, after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Greg Bishop is a cotton farmer who was diagnosed with leukemia back in September. As his leukemia progressed, he found that he could no longer do his usual work in the fields.
But unsparing the reality of cancer may be, Bishop’s fellow farmers did not think twice when it came to giving him a helping hand. As per the KCBD on Nov. 27, local farmers came together on Monday, Nov. 26 to make harvesting Bishop’s hundreds of acres of cotton possible.
“We had a meeting about a week ago today and discussed it. We had about 35 [to] 40 farmers come in to talk to us and see what they could do. Some of it was done last week, but the majority of it was done today,” Aaron Hendricks, general manager of Floydada CoOp Gins, was quoted as saying.
Hendricks further shared that many of the farmers who came to help brought their own machines so they could strip Bishop’s cotton.
The idea of helping out Bishop, though, first came from his good friend and fellow farmer Robert Nixon.
“We probably had anywhere from 300 to 400 acres,” Nixon said in the report. “We started around 10 o’clock this morning and a little before 3 we were done. I mean we had that many people.”
The support was overwhelming; too overwhelming that they eventually had to turn some away due to the sheer number from their community. Apart from fellow farmers, it was reported that local companies also offered to lend trucks and fuel, as well as give food, just to ensure they could harvest all of Bishop’s cotton.
The goodwill of people, however, has no limits, and the act of helping another brings with it positive effects for everybody involved. For farmer Dave Carthel, being a part of something bigger than himself was more than enough motivation for him to join the effort. And when longtime friends are concerned, it seems almost absurd to even ask.
“We were all glad to do it for him,” Carthel was quoted as saying. “He’s got a rough road ahead and he’s got a lot more worries down the road than just getting his crop in so we were all just real glad to do it and I was glad to be a part of it.” Cody Cepeda/JB
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