In the wake of so many natural disasters as of late, local Arkansas farmers are paying it forward by helping others thousands of miles away through Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative and Heifer International — and here’s how you can, too.
For those unfamiliar with the flooding disaster in Nepal, last month the country in South Asia was devastated by flooding that killed 150 people and destroyed more than 90,000 homes. The country is facing a severe food shortage as more than 80 percent of Nepal’s agricultural land was submerged under water. This disaster occurred shortly after most farmers had planted their seasonal rice crop.
In the days following the flooding, Heifer’s worked with local governments and cooperatives to distribute relief supplies to over 11,000 families. The next steps will be to rebuild homes and infrastructure and to restore agricultural systems. The Grass Roots donation will support the 21,000 farming families in southern Nepal that lost crops and livestock.
Heifer and Grass Roots have made it easy for people from all over the world to help the Nepalese community. You can donate directly to Heifer International on behalf of Nepal, which will go toward providing families with necessities like food and water, helping people rebuild their homes and replacing livestock and crops.
You can also help the people of Nepal by buying Grass Roots’ non-GMO, antibiotic-free, and growth-hormone-free meats. Grass Roots lets customers build their own box of meats online with a subscription service that’s sent to them every 30 days. One-time purchases are also available on the Grass Roots website. The coop announced they’ll be donating 10 percent of their e-commerce sales in September to Heifer International’s relief efforts in the region.
For more information, visit Heifer’s website. To support Grass Roots’s September fundraiser, shop their online store.