SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — The community of Melvin and Jacoby Feed and Seed teamed up to raise a total of $38,000 and enough supplies to fill four trailers to help farmers and ranchers who recently faced the largest wildfire in Texas history.

The drive to help those in the Texas Panhandle started when Jacoby's was working to send out a truckload of supplies. Nate Muramoto, the general manager of the feed store, shared that the community jumped in, helping in whatever way they could.

The community of Melvin raised a total of $38,000 and bought items from or brought items to Jacoby's including hay bales, rolled or hot wire, feed products and barbed wire. Donations also helped with the cost of moving the products to the panhandle.

"We’ve had people drop off hay bales, rolls of hot wire, and make donations toward the purchase of feed products, barbed wire, and freight costs to move all the products to the panhandle," Muramoto shared.

In total, four trucks were loaded and hauled to the panhandle, including one full of barbed wire to help ranchers start refencing their land to contain their livestock.

"A great thing about our community is that everyone wanted to participate and help in any way that they could, taking on the initiative to ask what was needed and how they could help before Jacoby’s reached out to them," Muramoto explained. " And it wasn’t just our local community, through our use of social media platforms, we had people from all over, reaching out and calling in donations or sending them through money transfer apps."

Jacoby Feed and Seed shared they will continue collecting donations to haul to the panhandle as this will be a long rebuilding process for those who were affected. The next trip will be made whenever there are enough supplies to fill a trailer.

"All farmers and ranchers deal with uncertainties frequently whether it be weather conditions, pest control, market prices; and the added hardship of this horrific event can be overwhelming, but we hope that those affected know that they aren’t alone in facing it and even a small community like Melvin stands with them," said Muramoto.

News Source : https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/local-news/mcculloch-county/jacoby-feed-and-seed-melvin-community-join-forces-to-support-panhandle/