by Roger T. Williams

The last five years have been difficult for Wisconsin farm families — and then the drought of 2023 intensified the crisis.

If the drought has affected you financially, whether you had to replant your crops, you expect a reduced crop or you anticipate feed shortages, the Harvest of Hope Fund may be a resource for you.

The goal of the Harvest of Hope Fund is to provide financial help and hope to Wisconsin farm families in difficult financial situations. The fund offers gifts of up to $2,000 to help address common farm financial problems, including impacts of the current drought. The Harvest of Hope was launched in January 1986 and has given over 1,770 grants totaling more than $1,265,000 to farm families in difficult situations throughout Wisconsin.

Five principles are important in making decisions about awarding grants to farm families:

Founders believe these principles are in the best interest of the farm family and the Harvest of Hope Fund. The fund was created by the Madison Christian Community, an ecumenical Christian community on the west side of Madison, Wis.

To apply for funding, visit the Harvest of Hope webpage. Scroll down to Harvest of Hope Application and Harvest of Hope Financial Planning Statement. Both an application form and a financial planning statement must be submitted for Harvest of Hope to act on your request.

If you have questions, call 608-836-1455 and press 8; your call will likely go to voicemail, which helps reduce costs and allows you to call day or night. Please provide the reason for your call and your complete name, address and phone number.

Williams writes for Harvest of Hope.