Beech Tree News Network

Farmers Make a Difference in Rural Communities by Directing Donations from Monsanto Fund’s America’s Farmers Grow Communities Program to Local Nonprofit Organizations

•    The America’s Farmers Grow Communities program will provide more than $3 million in financial support to nonprofits across the US in 2017
•    Since 2010, the America’s Farmers Grow Communities program has given more than $26 million to more than 8,000 nonprofits across rural America.

Morgantown, Kentucky – Butler County farmer Brandon Givens has won the opportunity to direct a $2,500 dollar donation from the America’s Farmers Grow Communities program, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, to the Butler County Young Farmers of America Association.

Butler County Young Farmers of America will use the funds to help provide a farm to table garden project for the local elementary schools.  Students will work in a raised bed garden system to grow food from planting to harvest.  The students will have a meal this fall made from the food they have grown, and plan to share it with the local nursing home as well.
“We would like to say thank you to Brandon Givens for supporting our Young Farmers Chapter in our efforts to further agriculture in our county, and the relationship our community has to agriculture as well” said, Lance Lockhart, Butler County Young Farmers Association Advisor. "The Butler County Family Resource Center was instrumental in making this project a success. We want to allow young children the opportunity to understand how the food they eat is produced, thereby connecting them to agriculture as a whole in a more personal way.”

The Grow Communities program’s purpose is to make a positive impact in farm communities by partnering with farmers to support the causes that are important to them in their communities. Each year, farmers enter for a chance to win a $2,500 donation that they direct to a local nonprofit.
Since the program began in 2010, farmers have directed more than $26 million in donations across a broad cross-section of organizations that reflect the makeup and character of rural America, including food banks, emergency response organizations, schools, youth agriculture programs and many others.

 “Farmers have directed funds to more than 8,000 community organizations across rural America since Grow Communities began,” said Al Mitchell, Monsanto Fund president. “Farmers are truly committed to this program because they see the difference the donation makes in their community.”
For more information or to see a complete list of the 2017 America’s Farmers Grow Communities recipients, visit www.GrowCommunities.com.

About America’s Farmers
The America’s Farmers campaign highlights the importance of modern US Agriculture through communications and community outreach programs that partner with farmers to impact rural America. To learn more, visit America’s Farmers at www.AmericasFarmers.com.

About the Monsanto Fund
The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Company, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the communities where farmers and Monsanto Company employees live and work. Visit the Monsanto Fund at www.monsantofund.org.