Wilco, a farmer-owned cooperative, this week donated $75,000 to the Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund to go toward rebuilding the Santiam Canyon.

The canyon was devastated by wind-whipped wildfires that swept through the area during the week after Labor Day. More than 700 homes were destroyed in and around the towns of Detroit, Mill City, Gates, Lyons, Mehama and in the Little North Fork area.

Wilco’s donation is a combination of direct employee and customer donations, along with unused employee vacation time that was  converted to give to the local nonprofit. All of the donations will go to directly benefit members within the community.

Wilco’s donation pushes the SCWRF over $2.7 million and is in addition to the $25,000 gift that Wilco sent to the Red Cross in September, when the immediate need to help families in the affected towns was at a crisis point.

“Our hope with any cash donation is that it offers immediate relief to those who need it the most. The September wildfires in Oregon added to a historic year of upheaval and we want to be part of the rebuilding, growth and renewal of our rural communities,” said TJ Colson, vice president of Wilco store operations. “One positive that came out of the tragic fires was seeing our employees, customers and vendors all rally together to help community members and their animals in a time of real need.”

Several vendors, including Purina and Nature’s Bedding Products, joined hundreds of Wilco employees, giving of their time, money and products.

Wilco employees volunteered at the evacuation sites, including the Oregon State Fairgrounds, Benton County, Clackamas County, Clark County, Washington County, Yamhill County and Linn County Fairgrounds.

In the first three days of the wildfires, Wilco delivered over $20,000 in donated supplies, including buckets for water, shavings for stall bedding and feed and hay, along with pitchforks and other tools. Wilco delivery trucks from many locations were on the road helping store teams get items to evacuation sites for livestock.

This was all taking place while many Wilco staff members who lived in the area of the fires, were evacuating themselves.

A few examples of Wilco employees stepping in to help:

• A trio from Newberg’s Wilco store. Quickly dubbed the “Red Truck Evacuation Brigade” because they all happen to drive red trucks,  Kelly Reneau, a groomer; April Courtney, who works in administration; and Dakota Apke, who works in animal health, were in their trucks hauling animals and people to safety during the fire evacuations while delivering donated supplies to the evacuation sites.

• A lead stocker from the Vancouver Wilco store, Kylee Miller, spearheaded relief efforts on her own and quickly raised over $6,000 that was used to purchase supplies for those in need. She visited barns and evacuation sites before and after her work shifts.

While at work she’d keep an eye on customers, and anytime she saw someone frantic over supplies would talk with the person to learn the situation and see if Wilco could help.

Employee efforts, large and small, did not go unnoticed. One such instance was illustrated in a note received from a firefighter: “I wanted to pass along a positive experience I had in your store on Tuesday morning about 7:30 a.m. I’m a volunteer firefighter and was on my way to Detroit for the week to work the fire. I had forgotten my suspenders and initially stopped at a competitor of yours to purchase a pair, but they turned me away because their registers were not online yet. I stopped by your Stayton store to see what you had and was greeted by someone watering plants. I was in my firefighting uniform but didn’t express I was on my way to fight fires. I told her I needed a pair of suspenders and she went back into the store and came back out with two different sizes to choose from. When I asked how much I owed, she said it was on Wilco and thanked me for my efforts.”

“We are proud to be part of the communities we actively serve and are extremely humbled by the efforts of all involved to fight the wildfires. This is the biggest single contribution in Wilco history, and one that we know will make a difference in the communities most affected by the Oregon Wildfires,” said Colson, the vice president of store operations. “This effort means a lot to our employees and farmers, many whom were personally affected by the wildfires.”

Wilco staff delivered the $75,000 check to Santiam Canyon Wildfire Relief Fund members on Jan. 4.

All told, more than $120,000 in cash donations and supplies were given to those who needed it most during the wildfire relief efforts. Wilco is playing an active role in the Rebuild the Canyon project in the coming year.

Wilco is a farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in Mt. Angel, Ore. It was established in 1967, with co-op roots that go back to the 1930s.

Since then, Wilco has evolved into one of the Northwest’s largest agricultural cooperatives, and today serves the needs of over 500,000 customers with a farmer-owner base of over 3,000 strong. Wilco’s mission is to strengthen agriculture and rural lifestyles.