Grant money at Farm Bureau’s annual meeting

The Chase County Farm Bureau annual meeting was held last week in Imperial.
On Feb. 11 at the Eagles Club, two student ag project grants were awarded.
“As a board, we decided to try out a grant project for students in Chase County,” representative Cyndi Weiss said.
“We weren’t really sure what to expect,” she added, “but applications were sent to ag advisors in Imperial and Wauneta and were also distributed through the 4-H extension office.”
Five applications were returned and they were all excellent, she said.
“We were quite impressed with the quality of all of the projects that our area students are undertaking,” Weiss added.
While it was difficult to select winners, Farm Bureau decided to encourage projects that are both established and still in the start-up phase.
Winners include:
Lindsey Mendenhall—$300 grant. A five-year member of the Imperial FFA and eight- year member of the Silver Spurs 4-H Club, Mendenhall is passionate about raising, training and selling AKC-registered, purebred Golden Retriever puppies. She has an established project with a female and puppies that were recently ready to be sold. She is looking to expand her project and construct outdoor play areas for the puppies to assist in their training.
“We were impressed with Lindsey’s initiative in her project and are excited to see where it takes her,” Weiss said.
Paige Owens—$700 grant. A second-year independent 4-H member, Owens is looking to start her own mini Hereford herd and has saved to purchase a show heifer. She wants to show the heifer in area contests/fairs and will use her for her 4-H breeding project. Her ultimate goal is breed the heifer to grow a herd and sell future calves to help pay for college. She has found the heifer that she wants to purchase and begin her project.
“Paige was selected for this grant because we were impressed with how well she has done in saving towards her goal and the fact that she is so excited about a project even though she is very young,” Weiss said.
“We are excited to see how these projects develop in the years to come,” Weiss added. “We would also like to see our grant project grow so that we can help more area students achieve their ag project goals.”
Also recognized
The National FFA Parli Pro champions from the Imperial chapter were also recognized at the annual meeting.
The team of Valerie Herbert, Courtney Odens, Lindsey Mendenhall, Brooklyn Christensen, Alexis Richmond and Jozie Schilke were presented with personalized jackets.
Arlys Cupp was also recognized for being named the Farm Bureau Ag Teacher of the Year.