The Northeastern Junior College Farm Bureau has received their second mini grant from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). This competitive grant is given to assist collegiate chapters with recruitment, leadership development, community service outreach, officer
development, purchase of educational materials and/or registration for conferences.
The AFBF provides five grants during the fall and spring semester for a maximum of $500 per grant. Andy Bartlett, the NJC Collegiate Farm Bureau sponsor said, “We were lucky enough to receive the grant last spring for our Florida trip. I believe we might be about the only college (definitely in the minority anyway) that has received the grant twice since it started about three to four years ago. It’s an exciting thing for our chapter to be nationally known and the only Colorado college to receive the AFBF grant this year.”
The other college recipients of the grant this fall are: Arkansas Tech University, Southeastern Missouri State University, Ohio State University and Truman State University.
Abigail Bennett, an NJC Sophomore and the NJC Collegiate Farm Bureau President from Rye, Colo., applied for the grant.
“A survey done last spring showed that 34% of NJC students had, at one point during the school year experienced food insecurity. NJC’s Collegiate Farm Bureau chapter is working towards lowering that number by running the new campus food pantry. By receiving this grant, we are able to increase the promotion of the pantry as well as buy food for the pantry. It will be a tremendous help this year and on behalf of our entire chapter, I would like to extend a warm thank you to the American Farm Bureau Federation for all of their support in making this grant,” said Bennett.
This semester, the grant will be used to purchase $250 worth of food items for the on-campus food pantry, $150 went towards signage for the food pantry, and $100 for a meal for those who help volunteer stocking and taking inventory of the pantry this year.
If you are interested in donating toiletries or non-perishable food items to the NJC Community Food Pantry, please contact the NJC Collegiate Farm Bureau sponsor, Andy Bartlett, at 970.521.6789 or andy.bartlett@njc.edu.