Members of the Barren County FFA chapter shows off their fruit boxes that will be for sale until the school goes on Christmas Break. Photo courtesy of Barren County FFA Facebook page.
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
For the remainder of this week the members of the Barren County FFA chapter will be selling fresh fruit boxes in an effort not only to support themselves, but also to continue a long-held county tradition.
The National FFA Organization was founded in 1928 as “an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership.” Membership is available to any student who meet the minimum of enrollment in at least one agriculture class taught by a certified agriculture teacher. FFA — which stands for Future Farmers of America — comprises just one of the three “major components” of agricultural education; the others being classroom/laboratory instruction and supervised agricultural experience programs.
Barren County Schools has four certified agriculture teachers — one at the middle school and three at the high school — one of whom is Andy Joe Moore, an agriculture teacher at BCHS going on his 17th year, said until the district pauses for Christmas Break, which is from Dec. 18 until Jan. 1, the local FFA chapter will be selling boxes of various fruits out of the Ag barn behind the high school from 8 a.m.- 3 p.m.
“We’re aware that there are probably some folks who might no longer know an FFA member…so we bought some extra fruit,” Moore said. “Now, we’re trying to put the word out that we do have some extra and now is the time to come.”
The boxes range in price depending on the fruits inside from $28-$55. Fruits include Navel Oranges, red and gold apples, pears and a few pineapples. All these fruits are from farmers from out West, Moore said, like the apple and pears from Washington state. According to Moore, the Barren County FFA chapter has been “maintaining connections with local fruit distributors” that allow them to buy their fruit directly from growers and have it in a “matter of days.”
“This fruit has not been sitting in a warehouse and ripened with Ethylene gas,” Moore said. “This has been picked ripe and in just a matter of days brought to us.”
Moore said the money raised through this fundraiser will go toward the students currently in the FFA chapter and go toward paying for their travel expenses, which is the chapters biggest expense, Moore said.
“In the education world we’re a nonprofit organization so we can’t really call this profit and let that accumulate in a savings account,” Moore said. “This money is intended to be spent this year on this set of students.”
“One hundred percent of the funds stay here in our local FFA account,” Moore said.
In addition to the fundraising aspect of these sales, Moore said there was also a long tradition in this community for fruit sales saying they had thought reception would wane as time went on, but would get numerous calls asking about it that has “kept them going.”
“It’s been going on here for so long we look at it almost as community service rather than a fundraiser,” Moore said.
Moore said he is happy to keep the fruit sales going and is hopeful to continue it.
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