Yooper Relief Convoy hits the road

BRUCE CROSSING — The Yooper Relief Convoy is on its way!

Seven truck loads of hay and a 30 foot stock trailer with supplies are headed to the panhandle states where wildfires have destroyed some 1.5 million acres. Many farmers in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Colorado lost nearly everything when the fires raged through their lands earlier this month.

A group of local farmers and truckers, led by Marty DeHann of Mass City and Jan Strieter of Lake Linden, set out Friday morning in route to Oklahoma to lend a hand.

Yooper Relief Convoy Truck Driver Marty DeHann said, “We all have responsibilities. Most of us are small businessman. We don’t have big margins, but it’s the right things to do and we’ve all determined that. What’s easy isn’t always right and what’s right isn’t always easy and we’re going to do this and we’re going to help.”

In addition to the hay, residents donated some 300 fence posts, 25 salt blocks, 7 rolls of barbed wire, 410 pounds of milk replacer, 4 bags of alfalfa powder, 20 bags of horse sweet feed, 20 bags of dog food, two and a half tons of feed, plus work gloves, housing supplies and much more, as well as cash to pay for fuel for the trucks.

Enough money was raised that a second smaller convoy is already being planned for next week.

Yooper Relief Convoy Truck Driver Jan Strieter, “The farmers throughout the Western U.P. have donated a massive quantity of hay and materials. The public has just been phenomenal. The public has outdone themselves.”

You can still donate to the effort through their Go Fund Me page and follow their journey on Facebook.