The agriculture industry has a long history of giving generously and fostering brighter futures in its local communities.
BY LYNN GROOMS / PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WALTHER FARMS
While tragic in its scope, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted countless instances of caring and generosity. Individuals, companies and organizations in agriculture are no exception. They have partnered with food banks, youth programs and more to help people in their local communities and beyond.
Walther Farms is one example of the numerous agricultural businesses that have given generously. More than a decade ago, the farm, based in Three Rivers, Michigan, began packing backpacks for local schoolchildren in need. The kids could take those backpacks home and have plenty of nutritious food to eat over the weekends. Today, Walther Farms provides 800 backpacks every week to children in Michigan’s St. Joseph County.
“We’re fortunate to be blessed with an abundance of good crops, and we want to take care of the people in communities where we live and work,” says Julie Robinson, team-services administrator for Walther Farms.
The potato-producing company has 300 full-time employees in 14 locations in 11 states. And Walther Farms commits a percentage of its sales every year for donations to community organizations.
When Walther Farms team members learned about the significant need in North Carolina, they sent 40,000 pounds of potatoes to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. The area has suffered the past few years from underemployment and unemployment. That’s only been compounded by the pandemic. As a community partner of this food bank, Syngenta provides year-round support.
Another example is an effort to help homeless and low-income families in Guilford County, North Carolina. With its Crop Protection headquarters in the county’s largest city, Syngenta, along with other community volunteers, works with the Greensboro Urban Ministry to provide overnight shelter, meals, groceries and a variety of emergency services to these families. Over the past few months during the COVID-19 crisis, Syngenta has donated $25,000 to the ministry’s food bank and more than $50,000 to other food banks across the country.
With an eye toward a more hopeful future, Syngenta and industry partners have also been giving back to help the next generation of ag leaders. Syngenta and Nutrien Ag Solutions, Inc., for example, worked together to help members of the Caribou High School FFA in Maine plant and manage test plots. And at a field day and cookout in August, both companies made $5-per-person donations that will be used to support local FFA students.
“We rounded up the donations and gave $2,000 to the FFA chapter,” says Jonathan Stevens, who represents Syngenta in Maine.
These are just a few examples of how agriculture is dedicated to caring for people in need and making its communities stronger now and in the future.
Source: Syngenta Thrive Fall 2020
