SERVICE TO AMERICA
Helping a community in need.
Rainfall exceeding 6 inches led more than 50 cities and counties to declare states of emergency on March 1, 2021. The flooding causing critical damage throughout Kentucky’s Appalachian counties. Residual effects, including mudslides, left many residents uprooted.
Compounding the difficulties, the unemployment rates in many affected counties are among Kentucky’s highest. Evacuations across the state drove thousands to overcrowded and underfunded shelters in the immediate aftermath.
Working with the high-tech produce company AppHarvest, WKYT helped to raise more than $1.3 million to support flood relief efforts in Kentucky’s Appalachian counties. Despite the logistical challenges in the middle of the pandemic, the special one-hour televised event brought together community leaders and entertainers to raise much needed relief funds.
These funds have supported more than 540 families, 202 small farms and 33 regional non-profits across 35 Eastern Kentucky counties.