Help Sandy Bottom Farm Recover from Vandalism

Hi everyone! My name is Heather, and I am fundraising on behalf of my brother, Patrick Helman, and his family. His farm, Sandy Bottom Farm, is the victim of a recent hate crime. If you know my brother, you know he is a ridiculously hard worker and truly dedicated member of his community, so thank you in advance for showing him that the community is there for him too. <3

Sandy Bottom Farm is a family-run organic farm in Isle La Motte, Vermont entering its sixth growing season. On January 2nd at 1:30 am, an unidentified individual trespassed on the property and vandalized their greenhouses, causing significant damage. This person slashed the plastic on three greenhouses, cutting large holes and swear words into the plastic, stole the Pride flag flying on the farm, and left behind a hateful note and an American flag in their farmstand.

As of now, the farm’s insurance is refusing to cover the costs of the repairs to the greenhouses. Time is of the essence, as the greenhouses are protecting overwintered crops against the weather, and the damage is only going to get worse from snow and wind. Replacing the plastic on the greenhouses is a huge task. To prevent future damage or repeat incidents, Sandy Bottom Farm will also need to install fencing and add additional security to their property, as they will continue to fly the Pride flag.

There have been ongoing incidents of significant vandalism of properties in this town for people who fly LGBTQ Pride flags or display Black Lives Matter signs, and it has intimidated community members and made them feel unsafe. The people behind these vandalism incidents have been using fear to suppress speech for years, and it has worked too often, and they haven’t been caught. No one should be made to feel physically unsafe because of their exercise of free speech, and Sandy Bottom Farm refuses to let these people continue to use intimidation to suppress a basic freedom.

Since it is winter now, and the greenhouses need to be fixed as soon as possible, the clock is ticking. Additionally, estimates for what this will end up costing will vary significantly. The family is waiting to hear back on quotes for hiring someone to replace the greenhouse plastic and the netting, as well as another quote on installing fencing. These options will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars each, and depend on whether the contractors can do the work soon enough. Because this is a complex and large-scale project, it simply is not an option for the family to do all the work themselves at this time.

Currently, the final costs of the total project are unknown, and could end up being less than requested. Sandy Bottom Farm will donate any funds from this GoFundMe that they don’t use on the repair and resilience projects described above to OutrightVT, an organization that does excellent and important work in the local community. OutrightVT is a Burlington based nonprofit working to create a world where LGBTQ+ youth have boundless possibilities for joy, and all people know liberation, and Sandy Bottom Farm is proud to support this organization if additional funds are raised.