BELLE — For Randy Russell, helping with improvements at the rodeo arena is about more than completing the work. It is a way to give back to people he considers family and to an organization that was there for him when it mattered most.

Russell, along with another volunteer, was working at the arena Friday, replacing boards on the bleachers. When asked how he became involved in helping with the project, he pointed to his family’s longtime relationship with the Ya Yas.

“Cindy and all of them’s like family to us. All the Ya Yas are family to us,” Russell said.

Russell said his family experienced the organization’s generosity firsthand following a house fire which destroyed their home.

“We had a house fire and lost everything,” Russell said. “They were there with a check for $1,000 to us.”

Russell has watched the arena develop over the years and says the progress accelerated after the Ya Yas became involved with the facility.

“I know when they let the Ya Yas take over the arena, they did a really good job,” Russell said.

His own family has played a role in those improvements. Russell said his son, Shay, helped plan some of the arena’s livestock infrastructure.

“That’s when they built all the back pens, and like I say, my son designed all the pens,” Russell said.

After experiencing the community’s support during one of his family’s most difficult moments, volunteering his time at the arena gives him an opportunity to help an organization he says has done so much for many others.