PEORIA, Ill. – Dennis Schlagel, executive director of the not-for-profit Fellowship of Christian Farmers, Int. (FCFI), and the group’s 600 members have an extra reason to be thankful this holiday season. The Lexington, Ill.-based group known for mending hurricane-ravaged farm fences in Louisiana and assisting with tornado cleanup in Washington, Ill., recently received $10,500 from the auction of a donated antique tractor.

The restored 1964 John Deere 4020 diesel with power shift was put up for bid on live television during a Mecum Auction aired by RFD-TV in late November. The winning bid was offered by RFD-TV personality Rodney Miller, who also sold four of his own tractors during the auction. The Deere tractor came across fairly early in the auction, according to Schlagel.

“Rodney got up in the auction booth and said that he is familiar with the FCFI, appreciates what we do and that he wanted to support what we were doing. With his visibility as host of ‘Small Town, Big Deal’ on RFD-TV, his support of us was wonderful,” Schlagel said. “How do you beat that?”

The tractor was donated by a farmer from Wisconsin whom Schlagel declined to name. The farmer, along with a neighbor, restored the tractor with a frame-off engine overhaul, new cab interior, new paint, battery and more. “He wanted to do this because he follows Mecum Auto Sales and wanted to help the Fellowship, so he gave us the tractor to sell through Mecum,” Schlagel explained.

The auction was conducted in an exhibition hall at the new Bend Xpo Center in East Moline, Ill., which is located on the site of a former CASE IH manufacturing facility. Schlagel described how a cold wind entered the exhibition hall when large overhead doors were opened to allow tractors to enter and exit the auction site, sending bidders and guests scrambling for their coats.

The cash raised through the auction will be used to pay for FCFI outreach missions at farm expos and other public gatherings, such as the Greater Peoria Farm Show (GPFS). Schlagel and other volunteers from FCFI attended the 40th GPFS just days after the auction, recruiting volunteers for their disaster assistance campaigns and spreading the gospel.

“It cost us $1,500 to be here for the Peoria Farm Show,” he said, “and we go to a lot of farm shows. It won’t take long to use that $10,500 up. This has been a new endeavor for FCFI, but I hope it sparks others who might have the thought to donate an antique tractor to consider giving it to us to auction. We have developed a great relationship with the Mecum people, and I was very impressed with their staff.”

FCFI volunteers at the GPFS were recruiting farmers and laborers to travel to their base camp for disaster relief set up in Lake Charles, La., to offer assistance. Teams of FCFI volunteer farmers are still responding to damage inflicted on farms and rural areas in Calcasieu Parish, where the base camp is located.

FCFI headquarters can be reached at (309) 530-7004 or through www.fcfi.org.