As if dealing with cancer and chemotherapy weren’t bad enough, Shelly Snelson had to figure out how to pick up the pieces again after losing their family home to a house fire earlier this month.
The Snelsons have already had a fund created to help with relocation expenses, but Shelly’s step-siblings and their spouses wanted to give her a reason to smile again, so they joined forces, to build her a chicken coop.
Family member Russell Jones shared the project on Facebook, recounting the story of the series of setbacks the family has endured, as well as the desire to try to “bring some joy into their lives.”
Left to right: Price Jones, Melissa Jones, Susan Jones and Russell Jones sit near the completed chicken coop for Shelly Snelson 
Jones said that Shelly has about five chickens and they are “the only thing that brings her joy at the moment,” so he decided to build her new coop for her chickens. He and his wife are disabled veterans and couldn’t afford to do it alone. He says the contributions of the community, plus those from Varners Ace Hardware in Bristow, along with Farmers Feed in Sapulpa and Fortney Farm and Feed in Kellyville helped make the chicken coop happen. “I went door to door in the neighborhood and was able to obtain the needed materials,” he said.
The project, start to finish, took just 48 hours. “It was just amazing,” Jones said, “what we accomplished while working through rain and all.
Of course, he didn’t do it alone: Price Jones, Melissa Jones, Susan Jones, Haylee Jones, and Masen Jones were “a huge help on this special project.”
When they finally delivered the coop to the Snelson’s property over at Slick, Jones said that Shelly “was able to forget about the bad for just a moment and that’s all we wanted.”
