Farm bureau establishes disaster relief fund

SACRAMENTO – To assist farms, ranches and rural communities hurt by wildfires, floods and other natural disasters, the California Farm Bureau Federation has established a Farm and Rural Disaster Fund. Created under the California Bountiful Foundation – a charitable foundation established by CFBF – the fund will collect monetary contributions to aid communities affected by natural disasters.

“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 online via the CFBF website at http://www.cfbf.com or the California Bountiful website at http://www.californiabountiful.com, following the Farm and Rural Disaster Fund link. People who prefer to donate by postal mail may do so by sending 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, county farm bureaus have begun relief efforts specific to the Camp Fire in Butte County.

The Butte County Farm Bureau and Butte Ag Foundation have created a Camp Fire Animal Agriculture Assistance Fund. 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, visit http://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.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 36,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 5.6 million Farm Bureau members.

Submitted by California Farm Bureau Foundation.