By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
When a local farmer was selected as a winner in America’s Farmers Grow Communities, he knew exactly which nonprofit he would donate it to.
Randy Rowlinson had been a part of the Colonel Crawford FFA chapter in high school so when it came time to select the nonprofit group to receive a $2,500 check sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, he looked no further than his alma mater.
“It’s a good opportunity,” Rowlinson said about FFA. “I think it’s a great class.”
Bronwyn Leonhardt, a junior at Colonel Crawford and the chapter’s reporter, agreed on the benefits the FFA provides. “All of us are raised around farming,” Leonhardt said. “It just gives us a little bit better background.”
Dave Klamfoth, territory agronomist with Channel Seed, presented the check to the Colonel Crawford FFA and FFA advisor Josh Schieber.
“This is important to our FFA organization so that the members of this organization can feel proud about what they’re a part of and then they can see community members giving back to them,” Schieber said. “So when they’re in a position to give back, they remember organizations that help them along, whether Junior Fair Board, whether it’s the FFA, whether it’s a local volunteer fire department, then we can pay it forward to feel lucky. Then when we get in the position where we have the opportunity to give back, we do that.”
In past years, funds from the America’s Farmers Grow Communities have been directed to Wynford FFA, the hog pens at the fairgrounds, and the Holmes County Volunteer Fire Department.