A 6-year-old Utah boy, a Virginia scrap metal company, and a desire to help with flood relief in Nebraska

As he watched the news from his home in Vernal, Utah. six-year-old Kai Baldwin didn’t like what he was seeing.

News stories about the devastating March floods across the state had the boy in tears. 

“How will they get home and save their animals without a bridge?” he asked his mom. “We have to send them our money!”

Kai emptied his piggy bank – which held $3.21 – and, along with his mother, Kristin Forbis, brought in donations from friends and family. 

“I let him set his own goal, and Kai decided a new bridge would cost $60,” Forbis said.. “Kai walked our neighborhood gathering change and was ecstatic as he counted every nickel and penny.”

They sent the funds, a total of $285.28 – enough for nearly five bridges by Kai’s estimation –  to the Nebraska Farm Bureau Disaster Relief Fund. 

Unbeknownst to Kai and his family, thousands of miles away in Culpeper, Virginia, a customer dropped off a functional temporary bridge at Jesse Wise’s metal recycling business. 

A farmer himself, Wise thought he would find a home for the bridge somewhere in Nebraska.

“I knew people were hauling hay to Nebraska; I didn’t have enough hay to share, but I wanted to help. So, I wondered if Nebraska could use the bridge we scrapped,” Wise said. “Believe me, I had a lot of dead silence on the phone as I tried to find the bridge a home. It’s not every day you get a call saying; ‘I have a bridge for you, can you use it?’” 

Wise ultimately turned to the Farm Bureau, which connected with Cedar County Commissioner Craig Bartels. 

“I told the folks when they called, I said I don’t know where we’re going to use this bridge or where it might fit. You know, we don’t have a cookie cutter spot for that bridge to fit into but we will make a spot,” he said. 

The question that remained was how the bridge would get from Virginia to Nebraska.

The cost for transportation was split by Wise’s company, Wise Services and Recycling, Neff Crane Rental, which donated a crane and labor to load the bridge onto a truck, and Read Transportation, which transported the bridge to Coleridge, Nebraska in Cedar County. 

“We thank them for their generosity and support of our rural community needs,”  Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson said.

Days went by, and back in Vernal, Utah, six-year-old Kai Baldwin opened a ‘Thank You’ card from the Nebraska Farm Bureau. 

“I was told that just days after receiving Kai’s donation the Nebraska Farm Bureau staff received a call that Mr. Wise of Virginia had a bridge to donate. They immediately thought of Kai and after a few seconds of silence said to me, ‘It’s Kai’s bridge!’ and that left me just speechless,” Forbis said.

Right now, county officials still don’t know exactly where the bridge will be placed. They’re hoping to use components of the donated bridge to help repair issues in two different areas. 

The Nebraska Farm Bureau Disaster Relief Fund continues to seek financial donations to meet the growing aid requests. To donate, apply for aid, or access other disaster assistance resources, visit www.nefb.org/disaster.

(Information and pictures courtesy of the Nebraska Farm Bureau)