Artist Cesar Aragon, Nestor Estrada’s husband, with one of Bella Hampton Farm’s two donkeys. Every other month, Bella Hampton Foundation raffles off original artwork by Aragon to help fund the farm’s efforts
CAROLINE SAVOIE | East Texas Reporter
carosavo@storydustsearch.com
KEMP — On Nestor Eduardo Estrada’s 10 acres in Kaufman County, the rescued dogs have more room than the people do.
“The dog barn is 1,600 square feet, so they live in a bigger space than I do,” said Estrada, whose own house measures 900 square feet.
Estrada, 45, is the founder and director of Bella Hampton Farm Foundation, a nonprofit animal rescue and sanctuary about 45 minutes outside Dallas. He runs it without a salary, and, with donations slowing, he said he’s built a rotating set of fundraisers to keep things going: a monthly farm raffle, dinners cooked on the property, original paintings by his husband and, eventually, a short-term rental in a converted cat house.
“Running a rescue is the hardest thing I’ve ever done my whole entire life,” Estrada said.
“We’re doing good, but it is a struggle.”
Raffle with a farm connection
Each month, the foundation raffles something tied to the property. Last month’s prize was a sunset dinner at the farm for the winner and three guests. Estrada said the winner and their party will pick vegetables from the garden, and he will cook using meat from a Mennonite butcher about 15 minutes away. Vegetarian and vegan menus are available, he said, and as he trained in culinary school, the meals are prepared with skill as well as deep care for the land.
That raffle brought in about $750, Estrada said. An earlier raffle of a painting by Estrada’s husband, Cesar Aragon, raised money for the farm as well. October’s prize is another Aragon original, and the winner will be named Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Estrada said the foundation will ship the painting anywhere in the world.
The raffles sit on top of roughly $600 to $800 in monthly donations from regular supporters.
Together, Estrada said, the money roughly balances the farm’s expenses. A garage sale and a hot dog fundraiser at a local Atwoods store have added to the total, volunteers said, and Estrada posts daily on social media about whatever the animals need most that week.
Where the money goes
The dog barn has its own water and electric meters, so the foundation pays those bills separately, between $400 and $600 a month depending on the weather.
Hay is the other pressure point. Estrada said a bale costs as much as $150 a year-and-a-half-ago. Two ranches normally donate hay, but one told him this summer’s drought left it with none to give.
Estrada said he found a seller who can provide the hay at $60 a bale, and he needs about $600 to buy 10. The horses, donkeys, alpacas and goats go through about two bales a week.
The largest line item in the budget is transportation. Dogs that are adopted are typically sent to rescues and families up north, and Estrada said the cost of vetting, heartworm treatment, food and transport adds up to about $1,000 per dog. Last month, sending four dogs north cost $1,900.
Estrada estimates the farm placed about 60 dogs last year, and nine remain. He said he has closed intake to new dogs.
“I’ve had to close my intake because it’s my sanity and my peace of mind,” he said.
Calls still come daily, he said, including from people who dump puppies in rural Kaufman County. He said that, heartbreakingly, he turns away dozens of animals some days.
From Oak Cliff to Kemp
Estrada and Aragon bought the property in 2021, leaving Oak Cliff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Empty grocery shelves and food scares made him rethink his own supply.
“Why am I allowing someone else to have control over my food?” he said.
Bella Hampton Farms began as a food operation. Estrada bought dairy goats, then learned, he said, that the state would require an investment of about $100,000 for him to legally sell pasteurized goat milk. He tried farmers’ markets for a year-and-a-half to two years and said he lost money reselling other growers’ goods. A herd of heritage pigs multiplied from 14 to roughly 80, and he gave many away and donated pork to a local food pantry.
Rescue began with cats, but Estrada said he made a hard calculation. Spending $10,000 to treat one sick cat, he said, meant passing up the chance to help 100 or so animals with better odds. The foundation stopped taking in cats. Five of them now live inside the couple’s house.
The sanctuary today houses two horses, two donkeys, two alpacas, five goats and 120 to 150 ducks, chickens and geese — plus two turkeys Estrada promised to keep for life. The couple’s own pack includes Roman and Celeste, a pair of rescued Great Pyrenees, and Lolita, a roughly 10-pound Chiweenie Estrada took from a homeless man in Fort Worth.
One of the horses, Jacinta, was being sold as a week-old bottle baby because of her coat color. After she began kicking farriers and a veterinary dentist, Estrada said, he traded hay and feed for a month of training at a ranch about an hour and a half away. Now, he said, he can walk into the pasture and put a halter on her.
A network of partners and volunteers
Estrada said between 10 and 15 volunteers help with the farm. Among them is Wynona Jackson, a retiree who has volunteered for two years and keeps the foundation’s vet records and shot schedules, coordinates volunteers and shares his posts across Facebook and Nextdoor groups.
Jackson applauds Estrada’s organization for the output. “It’s just amazing how he gets it done,” she said.
Jackson also runs the Critter’s Pantry, a donation-supported pet food pantry that operates out of her home. Neighbors who have lost jobs, seniors facing unexpected bills and families displaced by an RV park fire have all used it, she said.
“You can come 24/7 if you want to,” Jackson said.
Another volunteer collects aluminum cans to cover spay and neuter deposits that vouchers do not, Jackson said. Estrada donates eggs from the farm’s chickens to local food pantries.
The foundation also partners with The Gathering Place Animal Rescue Sanctuary and Ministry and Ashley’s Animal Haven.
Estrada said a donated van lets one partner carry up to 25 dogs north at once, and that six of the farm’s dogs have gone that way. He said partnerships matter because some rescues in the area mishandle animals.
Jackson and Estrada are also planning the farm’s first large visitor day, hosting 13 special needs students from a local junior high school with teachers and parents, 35 to 40 people in all. Volunteers will lead a class on the animals and let students feed the chickens and meet the dogs and horses. Lunch is covered, Jackson said, and the group is raising money for breakfast.
What comes next
A 12-by-24-foot building that once housed rescued cats is being cleaned and renovated into an Airbnb where guests can gather eggs, spend time with the horses and volunteer with the dogs. Estrada said the rental will bring in steadier monthly income.
Growth in Kaufman County, which Estrada said is among the fastest-growing in the country, has brought new RV parks and new neighbors, but not necessarily new donors. He said donations have slowed amid economic and political uncertainty.
Estrada, who is gay, said he has no LGBTQ+ donors that he knows of and does not understand why.
He has also been thinking about emergencies. After a fire burned about four acres at a solar farm several miles from the property, Estrada said he texted his volunteers to ask who could take dogs, then realized the farm has no horse trailer. The property sits near U.S. Highway 175.
Asked what keeps him going, Estrada said he asks himself that question every day. The answer, he said, is watching an animal arrive with sad eyes, gain weight and eventually leave for a home of its own. He said fundraising, too, has given him a voice.
“The animals have no voice, and I have found my voice through fundraising,” he said. Even small gifts count, he said. “Your $15 goes so long. It makes a huge difference.”
To enter the monthly raffle, donate or volunteer, visit BellaHampton.com or follow Bella Hampton Farm Foundation on social media on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X and TikTok. The October painting drawing closes Oct. 31 at 6 p.m.