The Lands At Hillside Farms Capital Campaign

Mail-In Donation Form (pdf)

In 2005, the dream of creating a long lasting "Farm/Nature/Community/Educational" facility, to preserve and educate the truly American culture of farming, by Dr. Doug Ayers, led to the creation of The Lands at Hillside Farms non-profit educational dairy farm. Through fundraising and securing a mortgage, the farm was purchased from the Conyngham family by the newly formed non-profit. The purchase price was $4.2 million.

Once purchased, a fully functional working farm was created, with the mission of educating the community on the spender that is nature, and all its wonders. Over several years, through hard work and public support, Dr. Ayers' vision began to expand and take form. Educational sessions were developed and implemented, providing the youth of our community with a special knowledge of agriculture. The educational programs were expanded to help the young and vulnerable children of our community, who either had mental or physical disabilities, or who were grieving from a traumatic life event.

During the early morning of February 22, 2022, that all went up in smoke, as a devastating fire swept through the Educational Center and the farm's wood working shop, just weeks before the start of the 2022 educational season at the farm.

To experience such a loss was shocking and heartbreaking. Yet, we remain deeply grateful to our area's First Responders who worked for hours to extinguish the roaring flames. These remarkable volunteers came from all over to answer the call to help. We want to again express our thanks and appreciation to members of Jackson Township, Shavertown, Trucksville, Mount Zion from Exeter Township, Dallas, and Dallas Township - all volunteer fire companies. We thank Jackson Township Police, Kingston Township Police, and Pennsylvania State Police as well as the Back Mountain Regional EMS.

Although the building and contents were insured, with the escalated cost of building materials and labor due to COVID, the insurance money will not cover the actual costs of reconstruction and the replacement of the buildings contents. The Lands at Hillside Farms Board of Directors, quickly decided to authorize a ninety-day, short term $200,000 capital campaign to raise money needed to cover the inflated reconstruction and lost content replacement costs. Additionally, it was decided that any unused funds from the campaign would be placed in an endowment fund, to give children of need, the opportunity to attend future camps, with subsidized financial help.

Please help The Lands at Hillside Farms complete its community mission, by supporting this short-term capital campaign, by completing the mail-in donation above.

The Lands at Hillside Farms is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) educational dairy farm. EIN 202975553. We value the privacy of our donors. Hillside Farms does not sell, rent, or otherwise share donor information without written permission.