Dealing with Crisis

If there is anything cowboys and cowgirls are good at besides riding horses and doctoring calves it is dealing with a crisis. When someone in the community is in need we are the first to reach out.

Helping those in need has gotten a bad reputation because of GoFundMe. More often than not you don’t know what your GoFundMe donations are going to and you worry a vacation might be taken with it.

On Wednesday, November 22 just a few short months ago a tragedy struck the cowboys and cowgirls of the Northwest. Murray Gudmundson lost his life on that rainy afternoon in a tragic accident. Murray had been married to Jackie for the last 10 years and father to eight year- old, Bodee. Bodee idolized his father and had absorbed so much information he is very wise beyond his years. Throughout the last 12 weeks the community has been working endlessly to help in every way they can.

Murray’s life was celebrated on December 1st where the attendance was over 300 people and just because that aspect of closure followed the accident doesn’t mean the efforts of the crisis have stopped. Each Friday we send flowers to Jackie and Bodee because they like to have fresh flowers in the house. People continually offer efforts in every way. This previous weekend a benefit race was held in conjunction with a silent auction to raise money for their “leftovers fund.” The money is available to use when they are in need and they can give to others in need as well.

There is no doubt in my mind that during a crisis the community of cowboys and cowgirls know how to handle anything.

The PRCA, Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association, has a Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. This fund is used to help with the cost of Professional Cowboys who are injured and unable to compete. The fund was incorporated in 1990 and is used to support cowboys and their families when they are in need during an injury. They have awarded nearly $8 million dollars to over 1,000 injured cowboys in the last 28 years of helping out.

No crisis is a good one, but realistically they happen every day and we have to be able to tackle them as quickly and effectively as possible and being prepared is only going to help.