DEWITT - For years, a family in Southeast Nebraska has provided therapeutic services through exposure to exotic animals. But after a fire earlier this month destroyed part of their zoo, their community has stepped up to provide help for people who have already helped countless others.

What happens when people who have dedicated their lives to helping others are suddenly in need of help themselves? You get a turnout like on Sunday afternoon in DeWitt, for a fundraiser to help people who are still picking up the pieces from a fire earlier this month.

"It’s crazy to see the outreach to me. It’s crazy to see how far she reaches. They touch people across so many different counties, towns, miles," said Kaylie Snyder, a co-organizer of the event. Jill and Jamie put their heart and soul into everything that they do, and they help so many people. To see this outreach back, is just heartwarming, and beautiful to see. They don’t ask for anything in return, and this is our way to give them that back. This is the community’s way, in the worst situation possible, to turn around and say we’re here for you like you were here for us."

"These small communities, they work together. If somebody’s in need, they’ll come together to help each other out," said fellow co-organizer Dee Schuerman. "Two years ago they did it for me when my husband was sick, and this is my turn. I’ve done it in the past, I'm going to return the favor, in hopes that next time somebody else will be able to do the same."

Enticed by an active cornhole tournament, a kitchen well-stocked with donated food - enough to feed the entire town of DeWitt, Schuerman joked - and more than 80 silent auction items courtesy of individuals and companies from across Southeast Nebraska, scores of people packed the DeWitt Community Center on Sunday afternoon for a benefit honoring Jill and Jamie Kuzelka, who lost a large portion of their home, farm and zoo, Whispering Acres in nearby Jansen, in a fire earlier this month.

"The minute I found out that they had their fire, I called Kaylie and said ‘we need to do something to get them helped out,'" said Schuerman, who has executed her share of events like this over the years. "I’ve known Jill 30 something years, her kids grew up with mine, wrestling together, basketball together, you name it. We wanted to do something to help them because they’ve helped so many people themselves with Whispering Acres, she deserves the help now."

"I’ve known Jill since birth. I went to school with her son, really good friends with her daughter. After Dee reached out to me, we just kind of took off," said Snyder. "Started calling businesses left and right, and it’s been an amazing turnout. I think I had somebody at 4:30 yesterday say ‘Hey, can I join?’ And how do you turn it down? You don’t. It has been absolutely amazing to see that all happen."

Sunday’s event was all organized in just a couple of weeks. Snyder and some of her friends handled the silent auction. Schuerman and company handled the food. More than 30 teams, including members of a local league, enrolled in the cornhole tournament. Plenty of other people joined in to finish putting some of the pieces together. And everything – the tournament, the auction, and all the food – was executed with one purpose in mind: to give back to people who have given this community so much.

"This is their livelihood, but it’s their business. And it affects so many people," Snyder said. "There’s so many kids that come down for therapy. She helps with veterans, and Camp Grit, and all of these different things. People rely on her so much in the community, so for us to be able to do this, and have this overflow of people coming in...to rebuild that and maybe even give her a little extra on top of it to help continue that as she’s in the process of rebuilding, that would be my absolute goal for her."

"She’s helped so many people, her and Jamie both, so we want to make sure they get paid back for what they’ve done for other people, so she knows how much people care," said Schuerman.

It will take a lot of time and some red tape before Whispering Acres can possibly return to operation, but after the outpouring of support this swath of Nebraska showed on Sunday, restoring the zoo has become a more than realistic goal.

"We would like to see her get back to what she had. Because she was pretty proud of that, and she deserves to be proud of that. And it has helped so many people. We’re hoping they can get it rebuilt and start helping people again," said Schuerman.

"She has such a beautiful setup out there already, for her animals, the horses, all of her camps, all the stuff she does with veterans, the therapy she does with the animals...she’s pretty grounded where she’s at," said Snyder. "The goal for me would be for them to rebuild out there and make that place – it was already astonishing and astounding – but to keep that going, rebuild, have the animals, continue to do what she’s doing, but at a better capacity."

The silent auction concluded on Sunday, but the Kuzelka family is still accepting donations via Venmo. The correct account is @Whisperingacres. Be mindful as there are many fake accounts that have cropped up, trying to capitalize on these tragic events.