Justin Schroepfer of Langlade County has been named Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Hero of Hope in the organization’s inaugural Heroes of Hope campaign.
Heroes of Hope, a subset of the #FarmNeighborsCare campaign, is focused on shedding light on rural heroes who have helped others through a tough time. Heroes of Hope aims to identify people who have helped bring hope to farmers or businesses, either in large or small ways. Members of the agriculture community were encouraged to nominate individuals who have made an impact on the way they conduct business, both ordinarily and extraordinarily.
In the past year, Schroepfer and his family stepped up in big ways to help their rural neighbors. When a good friend of the family endured medical issues, Schroepfer and his family not only continued to maintain his farm and his wife, Sara’s, salon business, but also stepped in to ensure their friend’s landscaping business could continue serving customers. As their friend recovered, they would schedule and deliver loads of landscaping materials to minimize the stress of continuing to run their business.
Additionally, when Schroepfer was notified of another community member who was in the hospital, he also stepped up to assist with the family’s trucking business by offering to drive semi.
As stated in his nomination, “This time of year, Justin is usually found planting a farm field that isn’t even his and eventually makes his way to planting his own fields. Our community is lucky to have this very generous family as a part of it.”
Also being recognized as finalists this year are Melvin (MJ) Zenner of Taylor County, Duane “Dewey” Kunz of Eau Claire County, Kellie Zahn of Shawano County and Al Shannon of Dunn County.
As this year’s Hero of Hope, Schroepfer will receive $500 cash, a Yeti Cooler, $50 to Kwik Trip, $50 to Blain’s Farm & Fleet and a variety of Farm Bureau gear. The four remaining finalists will each receive $150 cash, $25 to Kwik Trip and $25 to Blain’s Farm & Fleet. All Heroes of Hope finalists will be recognized in an upcoming issue of Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Rural Route magazine.
The 2021 Heroes of Hope campaign was sponsored by Rural Mutual Insurance Company, Blain’s Farm & Fleet, M.P.B. Builders, Inc., the Doyle and Kim Pokorny Family, Waupun Area FFA and Kwik Trip.
