September 01, 2011
Ag Disaster Relief Fund makes First Award to Bollinger County
County plans to use funds to repair gravel roads damaged by heavy rain, flooding
One southeast Missouri county is getting a hand with repairs following this spring's severe weather, courtesy of the agricultural community. Director of Agriculture Dr. Jon Hagler presented Travis Elfrink, presiding commissioner of Bollinger County, with a check for $10,000 from the Missouri Agriculture Disaster Relief Fund today, fully-funding their request for repairs to gravel roads damaged by heavy rain and flooding this year.
"We are committed to doing everything in our power to assist the communities affected by natural disasters throughout Missouri, now and into the future," said Director of Agriculture Dr. Jon Hagler. "Through the Missouri Agriculture Disaster Relief Fund, we are able to provide support directly to Missouri's farmers and farm families following natural disasters, providing for some of their immediate household needs, repairs to infrastructure and clean up of agricultural areas."
Bollinger County, over one-half of which is farmland, applied for a Major Disaster Grant through the Missouri Agriculture Disaster Relief Fund with plans to repair the roughly 600 miles of gravel roads in the county damaged this year.
"Bollinger County was faced with true devastation from flooding this year. We are very thankful that we have received funds to help us repair hundreds of miles of gravel roads across our area," said Bollinger County Presiding Commissioner Travis Elfrink. Commissioner Elfrink also acknowledged that community member Eva Dunn was instrumental in bringing these grant funds to our attention.
The Missouri Agriculture Disaster Relief Fund addresses the immediate needs of farm families following disaster, to extend grants to non-profit organizations for infrastructure repair and clean up and to help individuals and organizations with exceptional need with major disaster grants. The Fund is administered by the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority (MASBDA) and provides grants from $500 to $10,000.
This summer, the Department of Agriculture, with support from Gov. Jay Nixon and agriculture industry representatives, announced the creation of the Missouri Agriculture Disaster Relief Fund to help Missouri farmers recover from severe storms, floods and tornadoes that have impacted thousands of families and businesses this year. Donations from Monsanto, the Republic of China (Taiwan), Dow AgroSciences and others have raised the fund total to more than $175,000.
Applications for disaster relief funding can be accessed on http:/wwww.mda.mo.gov or http://www.AgriMissouri.com or contact the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority at (573) 751-2129 or masbda@mda.mo.gov.
Those interested in donating to the fund can do so by electronic check or credit card by visiting http://agrimissouri.com/growandgive/disasterrelief/. Donations qualify as a charitable contribution under Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code.