NORWICH – In the wake of the oil spill affecting the gulf coast, a local Norwich family of Alpaca farmers has stepped up to donate fleeces to help fight the United States’ worst environmental catastrophe in history.

The Thall family has spent the last four years showcasing their two dozen Alpacas in several states, and at their last competition a non-profit group began collecting donated fleeces from the animals and sending them to coastal states affected by the spill.

“We believe in the cause. If we had some major catastrophe here in our area, I would hope other people would come in and help us. This is something we can easily give to help the United States. Not everyone has money to give away; this is our small contribution,” said Brenda Thall.

Volunteers in those states take the donated Alpaca hair and stuff it into pillow-like containers to create water booms that contain and absorb the drifting oil.

Brenda and Mat Thall, along with their nine year old daughter Breanna, traveled to York, Pa., last month to compete in the annual Paoba Alpaca Show.

The weekend show drew around 700 competing alpacas and between 150 to 200 farms.