Tornadoes ripped through seven southern states last week, killing 350 people and leaving wide swaths of devastation in their paths. The storms hit rural residents and family farmers hard, reducing their homes and farms to splinters. Residents are without electricity; running water is scarce; farmers have lost their livestock and crops; and with rain in the forecast, the need to repair and rebuild is urgent.

Farm Aid is working now with local farm groups, churches and rural organizations to get emergency funds out quickly to affected farmers.

Today, we made our first grant of $5,000 to our longtime partner, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, to provide emergency assistance to farmers in need right now. Already, the Federation has turned their training center in Epes, Alabama, into an emergency shelter. The center—a destination for farmers and rural citizens from all over the South for empowerment and training—now serves to provide shelter, food and water for folks who have nothing left but hope and the strength to rebuild.

Farm Aid has a long history of helping farm families survive disasters — but we need your donation to do it. Can you help by making a tax-deductible donation of $25, $100, $500, or $1,000?

When major disasters like this strike, desperate farmers and farm organizations call Farm Aid. With your help, Farm Aid can help by providing emergency funds for families to buy food and cover living expenses and by supporting emergency hotlines and organizations that provide legal, financial and emotional counseling to farm families in need.

Please make an emergency contribution to Farm Aid’s Family Farm Disaster Fund right now and we will make sure your donation goes to the people who need it most.