Meet Bill Gross of Farm Rescue

Hi, I'm Bill Gross, founder and president of Farm Rescue.

Through the 1980s my parents had some financial hardships, our family was in danger of losing the farm. My family told me to pursue higher education and a career outside of farming. So I went on to be an airline pilot. I've been flying for UPS Airlines as a Boeing 747 captain for more than 30 years. But you know my heart never left the farming and ranching community. Twenty years ago talking to the other pilots they said, what are you going to do when you retire? And I said, well I'm going to get this big John Deere tractor and planter and be this random good Samaritan where I go around and help farm families that are having a difficult time. So one day I was visiting with a chaplain friend of mine and he encouraged me, Bill, don't wait for the future, do it now.

The challenges were huge in the beginning. I mean not just that we needed volunteers to be the boots on the ground but you know we needed to raise awareness spreading the word that Farm Rescue is for real and there's no catches that it's a free service and so with a handful of donors and volunteers we set out to help farm families.

Our 20th year anniversary at Farm Rescue means a great deal to me and the entire organization. To see the thousand volunteers come forward to help nearly 1200 farm families has been truly rewarding.

Visit farmrescue.org for more information.