Ponderosa FFA chosen for Environmental Grant

INDIANAPOLIS — A local FFA chapter has developed a plan to tackle an environmental issue in the community, and now it’s FFA members have received a national grant to bring their ideas to life.

The Ponderosa FFA in Shingle Springs received a $1,663 grant from the National FFA Organization’s Living to Serve: Environmental Grant program and will begin their yearlong environmental project when the school year resumes. The Living to Serve: Environmental Grants are provided through funding from CSX, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

The Ponderosa FFA project includes plans to construct a three stall compost bin to collect animal waste and compostable items from the school and local community. Ponderosa plans to sell the finished product to home gardeners in the spring and use a portion on the school farm to support student horticulture and crop projects.

The National FFA Organization makes grant funds available for FFA chapters to develop service-learning projects that impact environmental issues in their community. Chapters may apply for up to $2,000 to support yearlong service-learning projects focused on developing and implementing projects that address local environmental needs. The service-learning method challenged members to identify, research, develop and implement solutions to needs within their school or community.

These projects illustrate the final line of the FFA motto (“Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve”) by encouraging FFA members to unite in service within their communities. The LTS: Environmental Grants take community service one step further to service-learning, which provides a meaningful way to apply leadership and education skills learned in school and FFA.

The National FFA Organization, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of 540,379 student members as part of 7,489 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.