Foster Love With Beef
- Media Logic Radio
- 11 minutes ago
- 6 min read
By Niki Wernsman, For The Fence Post, Dec 19, 2025
HARRISON, Neb. — Waiting. We do it a lot on the ranch.
We wait for snow to melt so we can fix fence. We wait for the mama cow to finally lay down and push. We wait for the moon to castrate colts.
Some wait for a child who hasn’t come yet. And they wait. And wait.
Infertility is a struggle few expect and even fewer speak about, testing both patience and faith.
That struggle is what eventually led Jessi Grote and her husband Lane to channel their grief into Foster Love With Beef, an organization that provides foster families across western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming with beef.
“Foster care has a special place in our hearts. After six years of unexplained infertility, we knew we wanted to grow our family as we felt we had so much love to give and foster care or adoption kept coming to mind,” Jessi said.
The Grotes applied for and received their foster license in 2019. Over the next few months, they would have several kids come into their lives, their time with each child cherished and each transition home just as bittersweet. Their foster journey was fairly uneventful until they received a placement that would change their lives forever, a baby boy. He would live with them on their ranch outside of Harrison Neb., for the next 19 months, becoming intertwined in their lives the way any child would.
A WELCOME ADDITION
During this time, their wait for a biological child came to an end when they welcomed daughter Olivia, filling the ranch house with more love than they could ever have imagined.
In March of 2021, their foster son transitioned back home to his mom. While Jessi and Lane were happy for her, it was a bittersweet moment and one they won’t soon forget.
“It was a shock to all of us. Many of our family and friends were hurting, as were we, and asked that we not take in more children as it was just too hard to see them go,” Jessi said, remembering how the loss affected her village as well.
“We felt torn, once you know the need, it’s hard to step back from it. However, this idea for Foster Love with Beef kept coming to mind, like a God wink perhaps. We asked ourselves ‘What if instead of fostering children, we could continue to support foster families in a different way?’ We actually put a post out on social media to our friends to ask if they’d be willing to donate if we started something like this, and had an overwhelmingly positive response,” She continued.
AN IDEA TAKES SHAPE
And thus, Foster Love with Beef was born.
The goal of the organization was to provide any foster family receiving a placement with a roast and 5 pounds of hamburger and then again in December in time for the holiday season.
“We were officially organized in June of 2021, and had our first beef placement in October of 2021. Hard to believe it’s been five years already,” Jessi reminisced.
That October the Grotes held their first annual Eat Beef and Be Merry beef drive.
Today, FLWB serves Arthur, Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel, Garden, Grant, Kimball, Morrill, Scottsbluff, Sheridan and Sioux counties in Nebraska.
In 2024, they added Wyoming with Goshen, Niobrara, Platte and Converse counties, and added Weston and Laramie counties this year.
Jessi said they can thank their growth on friends, families, and donors who have helped spread the word about the organization.
“We have been incredibly blessed to see the growth over the past five years and truly look forward to what the future may hold. I think we will continue to add counties in both Nebraska and Wyoming in the coming year, and I am hoping to add in South Dakota as well,” she said.
NOT WITHOUT STRUGGLES
What was once a dream has now become reality, although it has come with its own set of struggles.
“The biggest struggle starting out was probably logistics. This felt like a big thing to take on. We were very thankful to have a very good friend and neighbor who was an attorney, they helped us with the legal component of starting a nonprofit. With the growth that we’ve had, I have learned that we need coordinators in the various areas to help with finding donors, as we like the beef to stay local if we can. I currently have a few spreadsheets I am working off of which works, but I know there’s a better way. A dream for someday,” Jessi said lightheartedly.
But with each struggle, the Grotes continue to look for and find the good in each situation.
“I would say my favorite part is remembering the sweet kiddos we had in our home. Every donation and delivery brings back those happy memories. While it was always hard to see them go, we learned so much from every one of them and our experience fostering. I love doing deliveries for our Christmas donation. Seeing the looks on the faces of the foster parents and kids when they come in and get a bag of beef to take home is just such an incredible blessing,” Jessi said.
“Last year we had extra items that were donated and offered to families when they came in to pick up their beef. One of the kids that came with was a teenage boy. I gave the foster parent their roast and burger then opened the cooler with the extra items and told him to grab a couple items. Right on the top were a couple New York strip steaks. The look in his eye when he saw those was priceless. He looked up at me, asked if he could take them, then grabbed two packs. It was truly something I will never forget and is exactly the reason we do this,” she continued.
Since it’s inception in 2021, FLWB has donated more than 3,000 pounds of beef to just over 300 foster families.
“I have said multiple times the past few months that no matter what happens with FLWB, it will be a blessing, whether it continues to grow or fizzles out. It has made a difference in the lives of many, and has been such a beautiful way to support foster families in the counties we have been able to serve,” Jessi said.
WELL WORTH THE WAIT
Good things come to those who wait.
Olivia was joined by brother Will in 2023 and now has a little sister too, Sophie who joined the Grote clan six months ago.
Now the Grotes wait for other things. They wait for Olivia to lose her first tooth. They wait for Will to get his boots on to go check steers and heifers and they wait for Sophie to take her first steps.
What they no longer have to wait for are the blessings of family and the generosity of the agriculture community in Nebraska and Wyoming.
“Foster care affected us in so many ways. I won’t lie, I cried more tears in that time and after our kiddos left then I think I’ve cried in my entire life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. We learned so much and I truly believe we are better parents now because of our experience in foster care. Every child deserves love, and if you have some to give, maybe foster care is for you. If you ever want to talk through it, please feel free to reach out. While we don’t foster anymore, we are still involved and would love to continue to help this community any way possible,” Jessi said.
The code of the west says to leave your fires warm, your fences tight and your neighbor better off than you
found them, something the Grotes live up to with each and every beef donation.
For more information on donating, adding your county or becoming a county coordinator, please email
fosterlovewithbeef@gmail.com or visit the FLWB website at fosterlovewithbeef.org.
For FLWB merchandise, a portion of which is donated to foster families, please visit https://www.mindyourpsandqstees.com/collections/foster.
ARTICLE: THE FENCE POST, DECEMBER 19, 2025
