Just 13 months after Tropical Storm Irene devastated many areas of the Green Mountain State, Shelburne’s Trinity Episcopal Church was awarded a $5,000 grant by the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont’s Steering Committee for Post-Tropical Storm Relief and Recovery.
This grant represents a small portion of the resources needed to secure Simplicity Farm, Doug Turner’s family organic dairy farm in Waitsfield, by helping to rebuild his farm’s 2,600 feet of riverbank that was washed away by a raging Mad River in August 2011.
Trinity Episcopal Church clergy and parishioners have begun asking other churches in the Shelburne, Mad River Valley and greater Burlington areas to multiply this grant and raise the funds needed to complete the restoration of Simplicity Farm’s riverbank.
“My life has not been simple since the Mad River flooded my Simplicity Farm. Its floodwaters wiped out my farm’s hay and organic corn acreage, carried away the rocks, boulders and trees stabilizing my farm’s riverbank and washed out 2,600 feet of the riverbank,” explained Doug Turner.
“My biggest concern now is how I can afford to finish the extensive restoration of the riverbank before any high waters return. I’ll lose 30 acres of my family’s land if the riverbank restoration is not completed before then. I am very happy to hear about Trinity Episcopal Church’s receipt of its Tropical Storm Irene Recovery grant and ask that other churches and individuals partner with Trinity to raise the funds to secure my farm and livelihood,” he said.
For more information about Trinity Church, visit www.trinityshelburne.org/index.php/home.
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