Local FFA Chapter Awarded $25,000 Grant

The local Buffalo Lake-Hector-Steward (BLHS) FFA chapter was just awarded a $25,000 grant from Monsanto’s “Grow Rural Education Fund.” The grant will be used to construct an 18’ x 36’ greenhouse for the school.

Jill Grams, BLHS FFA advisor, applied for the grant and 22 area farmers nominated them to receive it. What a great amount of teamwork and support shown by our community for our children and their agriculture education!

We are so excited to be one of six school recipients in Minnesota to receive this award! A HUGE thank you goes out to the local farmers who nominated our school in this process.
– Jill Grams, BLHS FFA Advisor

Learn more about the grant and greenhouse project on the school website.

Exciting Upcoming FFA Activities

Corn Drive

Each fall the FFA (Future Farmers of America) Chapter organizes their yearly Corn Drive at harvest time to gather donations to support community and philanthropy. FFA members will be out and about on October 18th from 8 am to 3 pm searching for Corn Drive contributions.

FFA EmblemLearn more about the details of the corn drives and how their contributions are used.

FFA National Convention

October is a busy month for FFA Members. The National FFA Convention is at the end of the month. The BLHS chapter has nine students attending convention October 24-28 in Indianapolis, IN. Students will listen to speakers, attend workshops and concerts, network with other students with similar interest and goals. It is a rewarding and exciting adventure or attendees. We wish the attendees a productive convention experience!

Our local FFA chapter is doing great things. K & S Millwrights enjoys seeing the energy and future of the agriculture industry in our community and are proud to support their endeavors.

Learn about the success of last year’s FFA Corn Drive.

Supporting FFA Corn Drive

Once again K&S Millwrights was happy to support Buffalo Lake – Hector – Stewart FFA’s Corn Drive with a donation. Buffalo Lake – Hector – Stewart FFA (Future Farmers of America) organizes a Corn Drive yearly. The proceeds benefit Camp Courage, a summer camp for children and adults with disabilities.

FFA Corn DriveThe local community has participated in this drive since 1955 and donated over $127,000 dollars throughout that time! It is a cause K&S is proud to support. Until this year the largest year of donations was in 2014 when $8,000 was collected. This year’s drive has already exceeded that number and continues gathering donations until October 15th.

Why is it called a Corn Drive?

The name “Corn Drive” has been used for years. Traditionally donations came from farmers in the form of grain/crop pledges. Over the years donations have transitioned to cash which now makes up 90% of the contributions. Because of this transition, local businesses are also included in this worthwhile effort. Since corn/grain donations are still offered, BLHS FFA works with South Central Grain and Energy to keep track of grain donations.

FFA & Community

Many FFA Chapters gather donations to support community and philanthropy. BLHS FFA is a small chapter with 30 members across our three communities. Even though they are smaller than many chapters they continuously remain in the top 10 MN chapters for contributions. In 2014 they were fifth in the state and in 2015 they came in sixth in the state for contributions. BLHS FFA will find out where they stand against other MN FFA chapter for contributions at the MN State FFA Convention in April 2017.

K&S Millwrights enjoys supporting the FFA chapter, the students in the organization and Camp Courage, the recipient of the donations. Camp Courage allows children and adolescents living with blood disorders or cancer the opportunity to experience camp and outdoor activities at NO COST. It provides them the opportunity to play with and learn from other peers with similar healthcare issues, providing a setting that gives everyone the opportunity to gain coping skills and understanding in relation to their diagnosis, while building up self-esteem and support. Camp courage is staffed by trained medical and support staff.

Consider giving your own donation to the cause, there is still time. Contact Mrs. Jill Grams in the Ag Department at the BLHS high school, the advisor in charge of the FFA organization. She can be reached at [email protected] or by calling 320-848-2233.