As damage estimates continue to climb in Northern California, the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) and several county farm bureaus are raising funds to help farms, ranches and rural communities damaged by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
The CFBF set up a Farm and Rural Disaster Fund, created under the California Bountiful Foundation – a charitable foundation also established by CFBF.
“All too often, we’ve seen rural areas of California wracked by fires, floods and other natural disasters,” CFBF President Jamie Johansson said. “We created the Farm and Rural Disaster Fund in response to our members’ request to be able to provide aid to farms, ranches and rural communities that have suffered losses.”
Online contributions to the fund may be made via the CFBF website at www.cfbf.com or the California Bountiful website at www.californiabountiful.com, following the Farm and Rural Disaster Fund link. If you prefer to donate by postal mail, send a check, payable to California Bountiful Foundation, to California Bountiful Foundation; Farm and Rural Disaster Fund; 2300 River Plaza Drive; Sacramento, CA 95833; Attn: Financial Services.
In addition, the Butte County Farm Bureau and Butte Ag Foundation created a Camp Fire Animal Agriculture Assistance Fund to help those harmed by the Camp Fire. The fund will accept monetary donations dedicated to feeding, housing and maintaining livestock displaced by the fire that are being cared for at the Butte County Fairgrounds. For more information, see www.butteagfoundation.org.
The Colusa County Farm Bureau has begun a children’s book drive to benefit elementary schools and families in the Paradise area. For information on how to donate new or gently used children’s books, contact the Colusa County Farm Bureau at 530-458-5130 or the Butte County Farm Bureau at 530-533-1473.
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Help is also coming from CoBank, which has committed $350,000 to support relief efforts to help affected communities. The bank is partnering with customers in the impacted area and with the California Farm Credit associations to provide grants to organizations supporting the immediate needs of those whose lives and livelihoods have been impacted by the fire.
Organizations receiving support from the co-op include the California Farm Bureau Disaster Relief Fund, the Community Foundation of Richvale, North State Food Bank, the North Valley Community Foundation and the Salvation Army, among others.
(This story was updated to include information about assistance provided by CoBank.)
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