A sheriff from a small Upstate New York town called Mayfield has now helped raise more than $72,500 to assist tornado victims from the area of Mayfield, Kentucky.

Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino on Wednesday provided the update on donations to the “Mayfield NY to Mayfield KY Project," which was started on Dec. 13.

He said the Fulton County Sheriff’s Association has received donations from individuals, families and businesses from throughout the Capital Region, the Adirondacks and beyond. 

The funding is being sent to the Mayfield Graves County Tornado Relief Fund at the Independence Bank of Kentucky, and distributed to residents with expenses not covered by insurance or other government aid, Giardino said.

Giardino, a resident of Mayfield in Fulton County, New York, established the fundraiser after a powerful tornado struck parts of Mayfield, Kentucky.

"The people in upstate NY and in our County and local counties are so very generous," the sheriff's office stated on its Facebook page this month. "Even those people around here who have had their own struggles found it in their hearts to help out."

Mayfield is located more than a thousand miles away from death and destruction caused by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky. But the two communities share a bond - a name.

“I spoke with law enforcement officials, I said, 'What do you need most?'" said Giardino. 

The answer was a relief fund.

So the sheriff established the fund through Fulton County Sheriff’s Association.

After 24 hours, it received over $6,500.

“It says something about the character of Upstate New York,” Giardino said at the time. “And it says something about people wanting to reach out to people during a time of need.”

The association is still receiving donations at FC Sheriff's Association, P.O. Box 20, Johnstown, NY 12095.