Local church donates money to ranchers

Thanks to a Nevada man and a new local church, a group of Bear Paw ranchers received money to help them recover from the ravages of the East Fork Fire just as spring, hopefully, comes around the corner.

Chad and Mary McKenzie of the Hi-Line Nazerene Worship Church handed out three checks Saturday afternoon of $1,133.33 to Dave and Judy Molitor, Joe and Lisa Toth, and Clint Bradbury, who works with his father, Bill Bradbury, on the family ranch.

“We wanted to get it to them before April,” Chad McKenzie said.

Dave Molitor said once the snow melts he’ll better be able to assess where the money would best be used. Joe Toth and Clint Bradbury said the money will probably be put toward fencing and weed control. The families lost hundreds of grazing acres and miles of fencing to the fire.

Ted Boyce, a member of a Nazarene Church in Elko, Nevada, sold a load of hay and sent the money to help people who were affected by the fires in northern Montana. The church had determined that Bear Paw residents had been provided with the least fire recorvery assistance. Boyce did this to “show the love of Christ,” a written release says.

Chad McKenzie said the church, whose members meet in their Havre home weekly, plans to help out and distribute more donations in the future. They are inviting people to a day of music and free food April 28 as they will pray for the livestock and crops in the area.

The three families said they were very appreciative of the donation.

“The generosity has been amazing,” Dave Molitor said of the many people who have donated to alleviate the burdens.

Molitor said having 2,300 grazing acres burned has changed his outlook to the point of even guilt. Sometimes he’ll look back, he said, at times before he was burned out, when he knew of other ranchers who’d been affected by wildfires, and feel guilty about not contributing to help them out.

Looking forward, he’ll always remember his struggles, he said, when he hears of people like himself who are affected by fires.