On Halifax television last week, a calf placed its hoof on an ink pad and autographed a cow photo.
At a Halifax junior high school, students staged a “cow rescue day,” wore cow symbols and raised $300.
These were two recent scenes from a national campaign to raise money to help Nova Scotia farmers hurt by Hurricane Juan, a storm that cut a 50 kilometre swath through the province Sept. 29 and severely damaged the heart of the province’s dairy sector.
Bank of Montreal Nesbitt Burns has set up a national “adopt-a-cow” program to allow Canadians to donate to farm aid. A tax receipt and an autographed cow photo will be the payback.
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“It is our way of trying to help an industry that really has been devastated,” said Shirley Locke of BMO Nesbitt Burns.
“In some cases, we’re talking about farmers who may be facing the loss of a life’s work, a way of life.”
Outside Atlantic Canada, donations to the Project Bovine Beauty fund can be done at Nesbitt Burns offices.
A committee of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture will draw up rules for distributing the money. The Rotary Club Halifax Northwest will distribute the funds and issue charitable tax receipts.
Donna Langill of the federation said that more than three weeks after the hurricane blew through the province, many farmers still are adding up the losses.
“Some of them who lost their barns still have their cows housed on other farms,” she said. “Some of them will have to decide if it is a good idea to get back into farming, to go back into debt to build new barns.”
Langill said the losses will be in the millions of dollars.
Some will be covered by insurance and there is talk of a provincial government aid package, although there are still no details. She said most farmers will have significant out-of-pocket losses.
“We were approached by BMO Nesbitt Burns and we agreed to partner with them because any help will be appreciated,” she said.
The campaign mixes its serious cause with humour.
The News release
news announcing the fundraising project quotes the “maidens of the milking parlour” about needing help.
“Our homes have been destroyed, the corn we eat has been flattened, life on our farms is in turmoil.”
And depending on the size of donations, there are different categories of donors – maidens of the milking parlour, ladies in waiting, working girls at their best, queen of the herd and the golden girl of the dairy prestigious pedigree award for a contribution of more than $10,000.
Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MP Bill Casey said in the House of Commons it is a tribute to corporate responsibility.
“All funds go to farmers and their families, who have lost so much,” he said.
“I wish to say congratulations to BMO.”
