Dedicated to making a difference in the local communities sugarbeet growers call home, ACH Seeds Crystal Brand Sugarbeet Seed has donated $10,000 to Gering High School (GHS) FFA and Ag Career Pathway of Gering, Nebraska, through its Homegrown Giving program.
GHS is one of six organizations across the country selected to receive $10,000 from the 2023 Homegrown Giving program. The funds will be used to support a variety of projects and efforts to enhance the quality of life across rural communities in sugarbeet-producing areas.
“We are proud to partner with GHS and support their efforts in the community,” says Ryan Reuter, sales manager at ACH Seeds. “When local communities thrive, everyone benefits. Homegrown Giving empowers and strengthens organizations in those areas working to make real impacts, while also enhancing the future of agriculture.”
With the donation, GHS plans to construct a greenhouse at the high school to provide students with the opportunity to participate in hands-on lessons to explore and learn about food systems.
“This award benefits not only our FFA chapter and agriculture classroom but the entire school,” says Carrie Johns, GHS agricultural sciences teacher and FFA advisor. “We are currently limited in hands-on activities for our students. The addition of the greenhouse will allow for more projects and opportunities.”
The produce grown in the greenhouse will be used in a farm-to-school program to provide students with nutritious foods in the GHS cafeteria and in the school’s culinary program for education on food production. Extra produce will be donated to the school’s PupPack Backpack Program to supply fresh vegetables for students in need. This project will also help GHS expand their Agriculture Career Pathway program, which helps students learn about agriculture-based career opportunities to help meet growing workforce demands in the community.
“I’m grateful to ACH Seeds and their Homegrown Giving program for helping us get one step closer to reaching our goal of getting our greenhouse operational this semester,” states Johns. “We look forward to continue supporting our community through projects from this addition.”
Greenhouse construction will start during the fall 2023 semester and is anticipated to be fully operational for the start of the spring 2024 semester.