Returning Home to Ranch Life

November 2, 2021

Jared Mracek grew up on a cow/calf ranch north of Alliance, Nebraska.  From a very young age, he found joy working with animals and knew that he wanted to study them in college one day.  His ranch upbringing taught him strong ranch values, including hard work, dedication, and perseverance.

“Living the ranch life has provided ample opportunities for me to develop many skills I may not have otherwise developed”, shared Jared.

He later used some of these same skills to complete his formal education in Animal Science and achieve his master’s degree in Ruminant Nutrition.

“After college, the heart for the ranch life brought me back to Western Nebraska to work with cattle on my family ranch and start a family of my own”. 

Living the Ranch Life

Now Jared shares this with his wife Melissa and their two beautiful children, Brayden and Hadleigh and uses his all the life-long skills he has developed as the Feed Division Manager at WESTCO.

Reflecting on his middle school days, Jared recalls having kids in his class that resided at the Nebraska Boys Ranch. He spent time getting to know them, always interested in their life stories that brought them to the Ranch.  He never forgot those touching stories, and when he was asked to join the Snow-Redfern Foundation board (formerly the Nebraska Boys Ranch), Jared knew he could make a difference for kids like the ones he met in middle school.

Impacting Thousands of Kids

What he did not initially realize when he committed to the work of the organization was that in addition to creating opportunities for local kids, he would have the opportunity to impact thousands of kids across the entire state during his time on the board.

As a dedicated board member, Vice President, and Grant Committee Chairperson, Jared has continually demonstrated how “ranch values” can be shared in his community and across the state.

If you are interested in helping share these values with kids across Nebraska, considering giving today at: https://bit.ly/3lwhtjl