Help on the way for farmers

The deadly tornado that ripped across Franklin County on April 27 left a path of destruction that many could have never imagined.

Hundreds were left without homes and many were left without jobs.

Since that devastating afternoon, people from across the country have reached out to Franklin County residents offering them food, shelter, water, clothing and many other items.

Groups of all kinds seem to have been impacted in one way or another and have stepped in to help.

That’s what led a group of Harrison County, Ky., residents to collect farm equipment that could be used by those affected by the storm.

A tractor-trailer load of fencing, gates, barbed wire, posts and other farm equipment arrived at the Franklin County Co-Op Thursday morning.

All of the items were either donated or purchased with donations collected by a group of concerned residents some six hours away.

“We wanted to help a smaller, more rural area that maybe wasn’t getting the attention like some of the larger areas after the tornadoes,” said Mark Sadler, of Cynthiana, Ky.

Sadler donated the use of his tractor-trailer to bring the items to Franklin County.

The donation was made to the Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association, which will be responsible for disbursing the items to county farmers.

The Franklin County Highway Department used a global positioning system to determine what farms had been in the direct path of the storm. The cattlemen’s association has since tried reaching all of those affected to let them know that applications were available to apply for the fencing material. They know, however, that some farms on the outskirts of the storm’s direct path were also affected.

“We will be taking applications through June 1, then we will set a time to start disbursing the materials,” said cattlemen’s association member Orland Britnell.

Anyone interested in obtaining an application is asked to call Frank Mitchell at 256-412-2594 or 205-993-5542.

“If you received damage in the storm, let us know about it,” Britnell pleaded.

“These fine folks from Kentucky worked hard to gather these materials to help our people and we are very grateful to them for that.”

Sadler said the Cynthiana-Harrison County Extension office initiated the effort and local businesses and residents quickly joined in.

“We just wanted to find some way to help a rural community that needed help.”