wfn.org | PDA Pitches In With $45,000 in Drought Relief

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

21-October-1999 
99357 
 
    PDA Pitches In With $45,000 in Drought Relief 
 
    Money will go for livestock feed, drilling of water wells 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Farmers whose crops and water supplies dried up during 
last summer's drought are getting $45,000 in relief aid from Presbyterian 
Disaster Assistance (PDA) and its ecumenical partners. 
 
    Officials announced on Oct. 19 that $35,000 from the One Great Hour of 
Sharing offering is being funneled through denominational channels to 
farmers in mid-Atlantic states hit hard by the drought. The money will be 
used to buy and transport livestock feed and to pay for the digging of 
water wells. 
 
    An additional $10,000 has been sent to the Presbytery of Upper Ohio 
Valley, which is working with a disaster-response group representing the 
Ohio Council of Churches. 
 
    "It's really a natural disaster that has heavily impacted small 
farmers, and we're working in an ecumenical effort with other denominations 
to help them get through this winter; hopefully next year will be better," 
said Stan Hankins, PDA's associate for U.S. disaster response. 
 
    PDA's money is being channeled through Church World Service (CWS), the 
relief agency of the National Council of Churches. Others involved in the 
relief project are the Church of the Brethren and Mennonite Disaster 
Services - members of the newly formed Family Farm Drought Relief 
Coalition, an agency that offers short- and long-term help to farmers. 
 
    "In a number of those areas, it was really almost a crisis situation," 
Hankins said. "They had to go to water restrictions; a lot of wells did 
fail, so there's a need to re-drill some." 
 
         Damage from the drought could exceed $1 billion. Federal lawmakers 
are trying to help with a record $8.7 billion rescue package. 
 
    Recent rains have come too late to alleviate the drought, one of the 
most destructive in the nation's history. Extremely dry conditions persist 
in areas from Maine to Indiana and south to Florida. 
 
    Farmers are running out of hay, and wondering how they will feed their 
stock this winter. 
 
    "While those states have had some rain recently, it's been so late that 
I don't see them even getting another cutting of hay," Hankins said. "It's 
just too late in the season; so they've been forced to feed hay that they 
would have used this winter. ... It's a crisis, really." 
 
    Money sent to the Presbytery of Upper Ohio Valley, which includes about 
a dozen counties in Ohio and West Virginia, will be used to supplement 
dwindling feed supplies. The presbytery is channeling PDA's $10,000 through 
the Interfaith Response to Ohio Disasters (IROD), which will use it to buy 
hay for hungry livestock. 
 
    "From the numbers that the farm service agencies people tell us, even 
if we had half a million dollars it wouldn't cover it," said the Rev. Bob 
Houser, the presbytery's general presbyter. "But it is a major step forward 
for us." 
 
    A Farm Disaster Helpline (1-888-800-0118) has been established for farm 
families in the mid-Atlantic states - Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
West Virginia, and southeastern Ohio - who need hay, grain and/or family 
support because of the drought. 

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