Dear Upper Valley Community and beyond,

As most of you likely know, Jamaica has been devastated by Hurricane Melissa. We’re raising money to ease the enormous task of recovering and rebuilding the communities of the Jamaican H2A workers that come annually to work. Poverty Lane Orchards/Farnum Hill Ciders has relied on Jamaican H2A workers since 1992. This fund will go directly to the communities of Wayne, Sobers, John, Willy, Currie and Fitz; To rebuild homes, schools, libraries, farms, hospitals, grocery stores, etc,. You may or may not know that H2A workers are vital to farming in the eastern US. They work tirelessly to provide for their family, their friends and their communities. The group of men we work alongside makes this place what it is and there is no imaginable world in which the farm goes on without them. They are at least six year veterans, but a few have been coming here for over 25 years! This beautiful, abundant fruit would be impossible without them. 

There is no way to fully express who they are individually through brief writing, so a simple generalization overall is that they are generous, smart, compassionate, sincere, hilarious, principled, kind and thoughtful.

They are a staple of this farm - they are a staple of our lives. 

The Pick-Your-Own season brings together a beautiful community from far and wide. Everyone who has come and enjoyed any part of what we do here is connected to all these men, because they are the backbone and they make this all possible. Let’s show them how the Upper Valley stands alongside our communities. Because, although Jamaica is a different country, these men are our immediate community members and they need our help right now.

Can you imagine returning to an unrecognizable home after being away to work for eight months? How can we rally around community when that community is hurting 6,700 miles away? What can we do from here to help those in need? A little goes a long way if we all pitch in, share the many hurricane relief fundraisers far and wide and forget not what all of these people provide our tables, bellies and families daily.

Thank you from the bottom of our heart,

From all of us at Poverty Lane Orchards and Farnum Hill Ciders