On a hot and windy day, Larry Yockey marvels at the sight of combines and the wheat his 1,200 acre farm produces.
“Today we’ve got what we used to call an old-fashioned harvest be going on,” Larry said.
But the combines and the semi’s aren’t his, instead.
“They stepped in unbeknownst to me and said don’t worry about the harvest, we’ll handle it for you,” Larry said.
Farmers from all over the region descended on Larry and his family’s farm.
It’s not that Larry doesn’t have the equipment. Instead, he’s battling cancer.
“It’s not a phone call you expect to have,” Amanda Yockey, Larry’s daughter, said.
In the spring, Larry was diagnosed with stage four melanoma, skin cancer, after his doctor told him to get a spot on his back checked out.
“You don’t plan that your dad is going to have to retire early on something that he’s been doing since ’88,” Amanda said.
That’s where the help comes in.
“What normally they are going to do in about two-thirds of a day it would take me about three weeks to cut if I did it myself,” Larry said.
All 1,200 acres, taken care of by friends.
“Words can’t describe what this community has done for my family,” Amanda said.
“They are my community,” Larry said.
