A few wandering chickens cluck their approval for what Mitch and Charla Howard are doing for pets and livestock in the fire-ravaged city of Gates.
“We have gone through a pallet of chicken feed,” said Charla Howard. “We have gone through 800 pounds of dog food, 600 pounds of cat food, 20 wheelbarrows, 50 rakes and shovels, 10 pallets of grass seed, two pallets of pasture grazing seed, four truck loads of tools, a pallet of chicken feed, a pallet of rabbit feed, 500 pounds of oats, two cases of salt bricks, lid lock feed containers, feeding buckets, chicken wire, other wire, cages, plus hutches made… The list goes on… There is a need in this area.”
The Howards recognized residents needed help for their pets, livestock. Since other donation sites were serving basic personal, clothing and household needs, the couple opened their shop, Newton Trucking, to help hold larger items.
“One evening while scrolling through social media, I commented on Scott Ingalls’ post regarding items that he and his wife Jill were trying to clear at the fairgrounds,” Howard said. “I offered the shop. Within days Joel Kinney in his military truck with a crew, delivered 800 pounds of dog food and supplies, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels…”
The following day, Howard was at the Gates Community Church resource center and again offered to store large items.
“At that time pallets of seed that Jay and Cindy Miller coordinated to arrive for the community were being unloaded,” she said. “That’s where our journey began.”
A post on social media the next day let people know where to turn, and the Ag, Livestock and Pet location prospered.
“There was a need!” said Howard, who quit her job to take on the new venture.
Help has come from throughout the area and beyond. As the project rolled forward, Mickey Willenbring at Dot Ranch showed up with two pallets of pasture seed for grazing animals and came back the same day with two rolls of wire for people to mend fences. Bob and Nancy Hansen donated four saddles, halters and tack. Fido Pet Food Bank delivered much-needed cat and dog food and supplies.
“All the while this was taking place, Pieter Van Den Berg messaged me about helping,” Howard said. “This man I have yet to meet has impacted me more than he knows. Pieter, a total stranger, was messaging me about how he could help, and next thing I knew, there was a $1,000 gift card at Wilco to purchase items because he was located in Bend and wanted to help folks here. Without question, he had all this faith and trust in me by putting money in my hands to buy supplies for the cause.”
Howard sat down on her bed and cried.
“Pieter didn’t know I was struggling emotionally and physically like everyone else with this wildfire,” she said. “Since day one, Pieter along with a group of people, run the Animal Evacuation Relief-Central Oregon,” she added. “Their work is incredible. Their efforts are still going strong, helping us in the Canyon to the ones that were evacuated to the other side of the pass.”
The Ag, Livestock and Pet Location is also in it for the long haul.
“This is not a quick fix,” said Howard. “Members are all at different stages. Some have homes, others are back on properties living in RVs and trailers, some are dislocated elsewhere, some are still in motels. People are trying to find their animals, while others are still having animals fostered. People are trying to get fencing back on their properties or build barns and shelter with winter weather approaching.”
To donate goods or to pick up items, go to Newton Trucking, across the Gates Bridge at 50538 Gates Bridge Road. Visit Rising From the Ashes of the Canyon Facebook page and search for Charla Howard.
