Catalan Family Farm Emergency Flood Aid 2023

Hi, my name is Maria Catalan. My organic family farm is located on Lover's Lane in Hollister, CA where I operate my family business growing fruits and vegetables for my community. On Monday, January 9, 2023, heavy rainfall flooded acres upon acres of Lovers Lane causing emergency evacuations. I fled my farm leaving behind my home, farm and belongings. I returned a couple of days later. It is estimated that 75% of crops are deemed a loss, inventory of harvests left in bins were lost, trash and debris spread throughout the farm, my trailer home was destroyed, tractors and equipment spent some time underwater and we are still unsure the extent of the damage. This loss is too much to endure but with the help of our community, we hope to move on and strive forward. We are asking for immediate aid funding to contract repairs to drainage ditches that were destroyed, higher cleaning crews to help remove debris and organize farm items that were swept away, trash removal, etc. Our initial goal of $10k will go toward these immediate repairs to the farm. We are grateful for any support we receive as we look toward the 2023 growing season to continue our good stewardship of the land.

Update

we want to thank you for all the support. The initial goal was to start clean up and after assessing our material, equipment, and damages losses however it was more than we thought it would be. We had started working on the land once we were getting settled we kept getting hit by the storms causing more losses. We inquired with USDA but unfortunately we have not heard back from them.

and behalf Catalan Family and employees we thank you!