March 20, 2017 | 4:45 p.m.
ASHLAND, KS — On Friday, we delivered our second load of hay to the Ashland, Kansas, area. The team said the local farmer, to whom we delivered the hay, was very grateful and overcome with emotion because of all the help that is being directed his way. Today, we deployed a third load of hay that was donated by a local farmer here in Ozark. This load will be delivered to Oklahoma tomorrow.
March 17, 2017 | 12:15 p.m.
ASHLAND, KS — An additional load of hay was deployed this morning to Kansas and will be delivered to farmers affected by the wildfires. A third load will be delivered early next week.
March 15, 2017 | 5 p.m.
ASHLAND, KS — Convoy of Hope is responding to wildfires in the Great Plains that burned hundreds of thousands of acres across Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Billy Gourley, a local farmer from Crane, Missouri, donated the hay that our Disaster Services team is delivering to a distribution site in Ashland, Kansas, later this evening. The initial load contains nearly 50,000 pounds of hay that will be distributed to farmers who have lost so much.
“It’s your whole livelihood when you farm,” says Gourley. “I can’t think about what they’re going through. What I’m doing is just a small part.”
We will work with local partners in Kansas and Oklahoma in the coming days to determine where additional loads will be delivered.
“Not only did the farmers lose their current stockpiles of hay,” says Stacy Lamb, U.S. Response Director. “They also lost the ability to bale any hay in the near future. That’s why this response is so important.”
