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AgGeorgia Farm Credit Announces Recipients of $55,000 in Community Mission Fund Grants

AgGeorgia Farm Credit recently awarded $55,000 to twelve local non-profit organizations as part of the cooperative’s Community Mission Fund. The grant program was established in 2023 with the goal of supporting endeavors that further the future of agriculture and enhance life in rural Georgia. Forty-eight grant applications were received, and awards of up to $5,000 per application were distributed in the fourth quarter.

“The Community Mission Fund provides a springboard for these great organizations to impact their communities in not only the upcoming year, but for years to come,” said AgGeorgia CEO Rob Crain. “We look forward to seeing the fruits of these investments and funding a new group of deserving non-profit organizations in 2024.”

The twelve organizations that received funding were:

  • Adairsville High School FFA (Bartow County) – This organization will use their grant funds to purchase equipment, including a livestock trailer, to allow students to raise and show livestock. 
  • Colquitt Christian Academy (Colquitt County) – Grant funds will be used to obtain a storage shed and needed supplies for Ag Education classes and hands-on learning labs.
  • Crisp County Young Farmers (Crisp County) – This grant will be used to purchase a portable cattle chute which will aid smaller cattle farmers in Crisp County by enhancing farming efficiency, improving animal welfare, and supporting sustainable agriculture.
  • Emmanuel University (Franklin County) – Emmanuel University’s Agriculture Department will use these grant funds to provide a raised bed demonstration area and training courses for agriculture students, homeowners and commercial growers.
  • Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School FFA (Catoosa County) – This FFA chapter plans to start a school-based enterprise by building a coop and raising chickens for the community. Grant funds will be used to purchase supplies to build and stock the coop, as well as processing supplies.
  • North Georgia Equine-n-Motion (Forsyth County) – This organization works with special needs/exceptional children from ages 4-18 that face the challenges of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and other emotional health disorders. Grant funds will continue to support their existing program and assist in developing a small farmer's market for clients to participate in the marketing and retail aspect of selling the fruits of their labor.
  • Southeast FFA Chapter (Whitfield County) – Grant funds will be used to build a multipurpose livestock facility to expand their organization’s animal science program, Raising the Roof with Animal Science.
  • STUDIO FARMER, Inc. (Richmond County) – This organization is a Veteran co-owned, limited resource farmer operated agribusiness organized for educational, scientific, literary and research purposes. Grants funds will be used to assist their educational program for YBSMV farmers.
  • TJ Elder Middle School (Washington County) – Grant funds will be used to purchase equipment for a joint project between the school’s agriculture and special needs departments. The purpose of this project is to educate students about raising poultry with the added bonus of being able to offer fresh, local eggs to the community. 
  • The Westfield School (Houston County) – The school will use the grant to cover the cost for garden towers, gardening tools, seeds and educational resources for their Garden Tower project.
  • Turner Middle School (Turner County) – Grant funds will be used to purchase incubators, heat lamps, a protected chicken coup, and supplies for more raised garden beds, potting soil, seeds, and plugs for their agriculture education classes. 
  • Vienna Fire Department (Dooly County) – This grant will be used towards the purchase of an Off-Road Firetruck that will allow their volunteer firefighters to navigate through crop land, timber tracts, and limited access locations to quickly extinguish fires.

AgGeorgia Farm Credit will begin advertising the program for 2024 grants in April of next year. For more information and to apply when the application period re-opens, please visit the AgGeorgia Farm Credit Community Mission Fund page at www.aggeorgia.com/community-mission-fund.