Fundraisers supporting Dartmouth farmers following fire

Feb 13, 2019

Several major fundraisers over the past few weeks are putting a group of Dartmouth farmers who lost their barn and hens in a fire on the road to recovery.

Nearly $30,000 has been raised since the Jan. 12 fire, which leveled the Cluck and Trowel’s barn, left farmers Sarah Cogswell and Kate Levin without a laying flock and valuable tools.

A GoFundMe set up in the days following the fire, which is still active, has collected $25,000 as of Feb. 13. Local business were also quick to step up and organized fundraiser dinners and special programs.

Destination Soups in New Bedford collected more than $500 for the farmers during its dinner fundraising day, and even served the farm’s products that day.

In one of the largest fundraisers to date, Farm and Coast hosted a dinner party on Jan. 31 with live music, food, and a silent auction that was well-attended.

“The Farm and Coast event was over the top successful,” Cogswell said. “We had no idea what to expect, but Farm and Coast did everything.”

On the same day, Little Moss donated a portion of proceeds to the farm as well.

“It was a lot of people that turned out, and it was so overwhelming to see a huge response,” Cogswell said.

There are several other potential fundraising events in the works, which could be announced soon.

As far as rebuilding, Cogswell said the site of the fire was recently cleared to be released, which will allow the cleanup process to move ahead.

For more information about fundraisers, visit Cluck and Trowel’s website, cluckandtrowel.com.