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Resilience and Hope for East Palestine and Beyond

Hello. This is Steve Montgomery, Executive Director of Lamppost Farm, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in Columbiana, OH with a mission to Use Agriculture to Reach and Teach Others. For 15 years, we have been rooted in our community, sustained by our community, and for the benefit of our community.

Our farm is 8.4 miles from the train derailment in East Palestine. We stand with our neighbors and friends who haven’t been able to return to their homes and way of life because of acute exposure to the contamination. Fortunately for us, we are upwind and upstream from Ground Zero so this tragedy has not had a direct impact on us. Our animals and land seemed to have been spared from immediate fallout.

However, the fear of the unknown is a powerful narrative right now. Understandably, customers and clients are concerned about coming here and buying from us. In the last few weeks our sales, which is our primary income, have dropped by 50%. We need your help to tell and keep telling an alternative story of hope.

One thing we are confident of is that, just like the body, the land wants to heal from toxicity, given the right inputs. Over the last 15 years, we’ve been putting organic matter into our soils with multiple species, managed intensive grazing, and composting practices. Soil life is our best defense. An inspiring example of this is the Luebke Farm. Following downwind fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, root vegetables raised on their farm were uniquely free of radioactive contamination in comparison to other farms in the region

Other examples of hope in agriculture:

When soil is damaged and laid bare, the first plants to come back are usually broad-leafed and low to the ground. And, they will be plants that have a deep tap root to bring necessary moisture and minerals from deep in the ground to replenish the surface. The leaves create shade on the soil surface and help lower the temperature of the soil and create an environment where soil life (microbes, bugs, and worms) can come to the surface to feed and deposit their waste, providing incredible fertility.

When a cow, which is one of the few creatures that can digest fibrous plants, wraps its tongue around the leaves of that plant, some of the roots of the plant die off and become a food source underground for those microbes to feast on. That, along with their manure, made of decomposing plant fibers, is left behind to feed that soil life even more. The result is soil with greater fertility and the ability to absorb more rainwater than before. That rainwater lowers the soil temperature and feeds the new plants that begin to grow. And the cycle continues.

Our world and specifically our community are longing for a narrative of hope that is desperately needed right now. Hope comes from the Creator whose design displays the built-in plan of remediation. We also want to enhance the remediation process for us and other neighbors using sunflowers and willow trees (phytoremediation) and mushroom substrate in wood chips).

Finally, although all of the water samples tested around us in every direction are showing no signs of Volatile Organic Compounds, we also plan to regularly test the water and soil on our property to assure safety.

And so we are asking for your help which will allow us to:
  • ensure the safety of our products through regular and ongoing soil, water, and product testing.
  • maintain the ability to keep raising and selling the highest quality food to restore health to those who continue to purchase from us.
  • navigate the potential coming shortfall to stay in existence with our eyes on how to maneuver into the future. Your gifts help alleviate a projected revenue loss of $50,000+.
  • enhance and expand our newly launched Fields’ Corners program to teach whole person health to empower others to access their God-given ability to be at ease verses dis-ease through several key issues: nutrition, environment, and stress management.
  • focus our educational program schedule to show others the hope found in the resiliency of God’s creation.
  • purchase the necessary equipment to develop and then facilitate enhanced remediation projects in our community.
  • be able to stay on course with planned efforts such as our internship and fellowship programs as well as co-sponsoring author and regenerative farmer, Joel Salatin, to come to Northeast Ohio for an event in March.

We recognize that our goal is lofty. But, thankfully, we are able to ask you for help to bridge a gap that is coming fast and allow us to take advantage of new opportunities to fulfill our mission of Reaching and Teaching through agriculture. Gifts made to Lamppost Farm are tax deductible although you will receive a donation receipt from the Paypal Giving Fund (PPGF). Thank you for helping us keep our light shining.

Thankfully, Jesus’ death on the cross brought a redemption that unlocked the possibility that tragedy isn’t the end. HOPE bats last. In agriculture, this is the story that we see daily, sometimes in glimpses, and sometimes in full display. And, it is an important story to keep telling…especially now!

Donations 

  • Leslie Klutka
    • $20 
    • 1 yr
  • Cassie Brkich
    • $25 
    • 1 yr
  • Raymond Mitchell
    • $50 
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $100 
    • 1 yr
  • Dennis Jaronski
    • $10 
    • 1 yr

Organizer

Steven Montgomery
Organizer
Columbiana, OH
Lamppost Farm
 
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.

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