Iowans helping Iowans: Community comes together to harvest crops after farmer dies in crash

By Alyssa Gomez

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    BANCROFT, Iowa (KCCI) — An army of volunteers met Monday in Kossuth County to harvest Jim Heldorfer’s crops.

Heldorfer, who farmed nearly 500 acres of land near Bancroft in northern Iowa, died in a single-vehicle crash Oct. 1. He was 54.

Friends and family paid their respects during his funeral Friday, then gathered again Monday for the harvest.

“Our cousin Jim was one of those people that would do anything for anyone,” Kathy Fahy said.

She said there was no hesitation from the community to take care of Heldorfer’s last season of crops and that people reached out almost immediately after his death — a testament to the person he was.

A life can hardly be measured in numbers, but the help that showed up is an indication of how much Heldorfer meant to his neighbors. The crew included 17 combines, 15 grain carts and 32 semitrucks, and the harvest was done long before dark.

“It’s about people helping people,” said Bill Beukema, CEO of StateLine Cooperative. “Everyone here today has their own business and harvest to finish, and they took time out of their day to come support someone.”

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