In Alberta, you don’t need to be religious to ‘love thy neighbour.’
Alpaca farmer Carmen Jadick has received overwhelming support from the community after her barn burned down last week. In under a week, the GoFundMe, started by Jadick’s friend, Jennie Shipley, has seen more than $32,000 in donations to support Jadick.
Jadick is the owner of Prairie Spirit Alpacas based in Millarville, a small hamlet southwest of Calgary. On the night of October 11, her barn caught fire, destroying all of its contents and her whole load of freshly purchased hay. When firefighters arrived, they found a large barn consumed by flames.
“The homeowner was rushing to save animals and help them escape from the structure,” TJ Moore, Diamond Valley Fire Chief, told Town and Country Today.
Firefighters stopped the fire from spreading and helped evacuate some of the animals, but her barn was lost.
The fire started in a stack of 500 hay bales delivered that day and stored outside the barn. The fire spread from the hay bales to the barn, quickly growing to 30 feet high and melting a nearby steel horse trailer.
While Jadick and the firefighters saved a lot, she still lost things that money can’t replace: eight alpacas, her chickens, and her trusty livestock dog, Sophie.
“I couldn’t get her out. Sophie has been with me from the beginning. She has saved my alpacas from the coyotes. She didn’t deserve to be burned alive,” Jadick told Global News.
But with winter approaching fast, Jadick has no time to grieve. She has almost 200 alpacas that need shelter before the winter, many of which are injured from the blaze and need extra care.
Jadick pours her blood, sweat, and tears into Prairie Spirit Alpacas. The barn was a part of her, but it was also her livelihood. More than a year’s supply of alpaca fleece–that Jadick was storing to process into products–burned along with the barn. Now, Jadick doesn’t even have a bucket to feed her animals with.
Jadick plans to rebuild, but her insurance isn’t covering the full amount.
According to her friend Shipley, Jadick would never ask for help herself. But that hasn’t stopped the community from showing Jadick overwhelming support.
People are coming together to support her after Jadick has done so much to help her community, including hosting Ukranian refugees.
“It was the worst night of my life, and now I’m realizing it just shows me how grateful I am to the community that I have,” expressed Jadick.
Many community members have been eager to give back to Jadick. She plans to use the funds to put her animals in temporary shelters for three to six months.
Jadick suffered a horrible loss, but she can hopefully recover with the community’s help.
“It is the right thing to do for a neighbour in need. I hope the animals are okay and you can get shelter and food for them,” wrote one donor on GoFundMe.
Part of what makes Alberta so great is our willingness to help each other. In moments like these, our communities shine the brightest.
If you want to support Jadick, her GoFundMe can be found here. In the meantime, the cause of the fire is under investigation.
