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Every weekday Shawn Patrick sheds some light on some good news with His Good Vibes Story. Here is today's...
An Iowa farming community is coming together to harvest crops for the family of a farmer who died last month. When 39-year-old Cole Vanatta died in a tree-trimming accident in September, he left behind a wife and three children and the farm that’s been in his family for 150 years. Cole's widow, Shannon Vanatta, has a lot to handle in the wake of her husband’s death, but one thing she won’t have to worry about is how to deal with the acres of crops that need to be harvested.
A group of 50 farmers from nearby farms are descending on the Vanatta’s farm to help them handle their harvest. Around 25 auger wagons, four grain baggers, and 15 combine harvesters manned by dozens of volunteers will harvest nearly 1-thousand acres of land in just a couple of days. The group's organizer, Clint Blackburn says it’s what Cole would have done for his neighbors. "Cole was a good man," he says. "Cole was someone who gave the shirt off his back to anyone."
Shannon Vanatta doesn’t know what she would do if it wasn’t for their neighbors’ help. "They kind of just pick up, where I don't know where to go with it,” she says. “They just said 'I got this,' and they took over and it's been great." With so much at stake, Shannon and her family owe a lot to the group of volunteers. "I'll never be able to repay people for what they're doing today, but I'll try."