A local company kicked off a hay drive to help ranchers feed their cattle after the Cow Valley Fire charred critical rangelands in Malheur County.
Riverside Feeders, a Vale feed company, will accept hay donations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday, July 28, at 2476 U.S. Highway 20, west of Vale.
For those who cannot make the drop-off times, appointments can be scheduled by calling 541-620-1014.
A flyer noted that pickup and truck loads of hay will be accepted, but no small bales. The donations will be distributed to ranchers impacted by the fire, according to the flyer.
The cattle industry is the largest segment of the local economy in Malheur County.
The community is also rallying to collect donations for the area’s firefighters.
The Vale Community Coalition, a local nonprofit, is collecting donations for the Vale Rangeland Fire Protection Agency. The fire protection agency dubs itself a group of “neighbors helping neighbors” fighting wildfires in and around Vale.
Over the past several days, according to the coalition’s Facebook page, the fire protection agency, a collection of volunteer local ranchers and landowners, has spent “countless hours” working alongside other fire agencies battling the Cow Valley Fire and others.
Donations to the fire protection agency can be made in person to Jen Tolman, the coalition’s treasurer, at Malheur Drug in Vale, at 198 A St. W, according to the coalition’s Facebook page.
The community is grateful for everything the volunteers with the fire protection agency have done, Tolman said.
A dispatcher with the Ontario Fire and Rescue Department, Charlotte New, along with other firefighter wives, are collecting donations to put together care packages for the more than 500 firefighters battling the wildfires. New said she will deliver the care packages, Wednesday, July 24, after 5 p.m.
Some of the supplies that people can donate include sunscreen, long socks and individual wet wipe packets.
The donations can be dropped off at the Ontario Fire and Rescue Department at 444 S.W. 4th Ave in Ontario between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
New said the Ontario Fire and Rescue Department received many calls from people wanting to donate to the firefighters.
“This is just something to give back to our firefighters that are out there,” she said. “The community wants to help.”
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