GFB collects food, funds
to help hurricane victims

Pictured from left, Georgia Farm Bureau President Wayne Dollar, GFB Women’s Committee Chairman Jeannie Tucker and GFB Young Farmer Committee Chairman Paul Shirah are shown loading the food Farm Bureau members donated for Mississippi hurricane victims.

Receiving a box of Fruit loops and some school supplies was all it took to make a Mississippi kid left homeless by Hurricane Katrina smile.

The Fruit Loops and school supplies were just part of the more than 1,000 bags of groceries weighing more than 17,000 pounds Georgia Farm Bureau members donated to residents of Mississippi’s Hancock County.

GFB members from all 159 county chapters participated in the organization’s Harvest For All Campaign in October.

“As an organization, Farm Bureau has historically helped its neighbors in need. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, Farm Bureau members will open up their heart. That’s just the Farm Bureau way,” Georgia Farm Bureau President Wayne Dollar said. “I’m very proud of the donations our members across the state made to this food drive and hope it will help relieve some of the suffering our neighbors in Mississippi are experiencing.”

GFB Young Farmer Committee members Paul Shirah, 9th District; Drew Echols, 2nd District; Chad Carlton, 3rd District; James Hitchcock, 6th District; and Ralph Yoder, 8th District, drove the food to Kiln, Miss., on Nov. 1, where they assisted Hancock County Farm Bureau members and Mississippi Farm Bureau (MFB) staff in distributing the food to hurricane victims.

Kiln is a small community in Hancock County, one of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast counties hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. Kiln is about 10 miles inland from the beachfront towns of Waveland and Bay St. Louis, described by many reporters as Ground Zero of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina displaced about 3,000 residents of Bay St. Louis, the county seat of Hancock County, and damaged 95% of the homes in the town according to published reports. Two months after Katrina left thousands of people in the area homeless, people are still sleeping in tents and travel trailers, MFB Young Farmer Coordinator Greg Shows said. Most of these people have also been without jobs for the past two months.

“Right after the storm hit, they were flooded with food and clothing, but a lot of that has slowed down now, but the need is still as great,” Shows said. “Georgia Farm Bureau’s donation came at a great time and had a tremendous impact.”

Delayed by a flat tire, the GFB delegation arrived at the distribution point two hours behind schedule to find about 200 cars waiting to receive the donations. Shows said GFB’s food donation could help as many as 600 people since each car present was very likely picking up food for three to four families.

“Everyone was very grateful for the donations. They told us thanks and you could see that they were grateful for all of it,” GFB Young Farmer Committee member Drew Echols said. “The kids were just tickled to death to get school supplies.”
Echols compared the hurricane-ravaged areas he saw to Third World conditions.

“The devastation and damage down there is tremendous,” Echols said. “The only difference between Waveland and Kiln, Mississippi, and a Third World country is that at least Mississippi has power again.”

In true Farm Bureau comradery, the young farmers spent the night at the home of Louis Breaux, a Mississippi Farm Bureau state director and Hancock County Farm Bureau director.

“I just appreciate the opportunity through Farm Bureau to be able to go and offer some help to people who needed it,” Echols said. “Everyone who made a donation to the Harvest for All Campaign should know that their contribution made a difference.

The Georgia Farm Bureau Women’s and Young Farmer Committees jointly coordinated the Harvest for All Campaign. This is the second year that Georgia Farm Bureau joined hands with America’s Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States, to collect food in an effort to help alleviate hunger in America. Last year, food collected by Georgia Farm Bureau was donated to the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank that serves 24 Middle Georgia counties.

“I’m proud of all of the county Farm Bureaus for participating in this food drive,” Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmer Committee Chairman Paul Shirah, said. “I’m glad we had the chance to help some of the folks in Mississippi affected by the hurricanes.” Georgia Farm Bureau is also making a $100,000 donation to Mississippi Farm Bureau to be used to purchase fence posts, fence wire and various supplies needed by Mississippi farmers whose farms were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Mississippi agriculture officials say a preliminary estimate of agriculture damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is about $2.25 billion. An additional $50,000 donated by county Farm Bureau chapters across the state will also be donated to the Mississippi Farm Bureau for assisting affected farmers. The Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmer Committee is donating $1,000 to both the Mississippi and Louisiana Farm Bureau Hurricane Relief Funds. The committee’s $2,000 donation is the amount of a prize the committee received earlier this year for having the second largest number of volunteer hours during the nationwide 2004 Harvest for All Campaign.

“I feel as Americans we’re obligated to help those in need. Mississippi was devastated by the hurricane disaster. We are very happy we could help out,” Georgia Farm Bureau Women’s Committee Chairman Jeannie Tucker said.