A few days before the Kewaunee County Fair, 10-year-old Blake Kroll of Luxemburg found out that his 278-pound pig “Spot” had made the cut for the auction at the Kewaunee County Fair.

He was excited and told his dad, Duke, that he wanted to donate some of the proceeds to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Blake, who has had some medical issues since birth, including hearing loss, had been receiving treatment from the medical staff there and wanted to show his appreciation. He will be a fourth-grade student at Kewaunee Grade School this fall.

Then after the preliminary fair events Thursday, he again insisted to his father that he wanted to donate his proceeds.

As the fair competition proceeded, Blake was surprised and delighted that he and Spot won first place in his class, went on to win Reserve Champion in the Middle-Weight class and then won the Showmanship award for beginners, said his mother, Kim. But he was not backing down on his idea to donate the proceeds from Spot’s sale.

So the Krolls talked with the auction committee about Blake’s idea, and during the auction, the auctioneer announced that Blake would be donating his proceeds to the hospital. Halfway through the pig’s auction, Algoma FFA Alumni raised their paddle and said they would make a $500 donation for Blake so he could keep the proceeds.

Suddenly, another paddle went up, and another and the paddles just kept rising with businesses and individuals pledging $500 donation to Children’s Hospital, said Kim.

Luxemburg Milling bought the pig for $17.25 a pound and then they also committed to a $500 donation. Even after the auction was complete, paddles were still being raised to offer a donation. In total, the auction raised $15,500 for the hospital.

“It was overwhelming and I felt so grateful,” said Kim. “To see these businesses, families and individuals do this was pretty impressive.”

After the Krolls got home, Blake still said he wanted to donate money from the sale of his pig. In addition, other businesses and families heard about the auction and said they would make a donation.

The amount that Blake has raised for the hospital with his initial idea has now reached almost $20,000, Kim said.

“I just want to say thank you to the auction committee and all the businesses and families,” said Kim. “It was Blake’s idea, but it won’t have happened unless these businesses and people stood up. With everything else they were doing at the fair, they still wanted to donate to Children’s Hospital and make other kids happy. It really points to the strength and generosity of the agricultural community here.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Big heart, big donation