4-H gets $2,500 donation
Published 6:41 am Monday, April 4, 2011
A check forr $2,500 was presented Saturday to Mower County 4-H from Virginia Bissen and her brother Mike Bissen at the 4-H Building at the Mower County Fairgrounds. Pictured from left are: Melissa Koch, 4-H program coordinator, Molly Bergstrom, vice president of the 4-H Advisory Board, Tim Stenzel from Monsanto, Virginia Bissen and Mike Bissen. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Mower County 4-H Club received a big gift Saturday, somewhat by a stroke of luck.
Virginia Bissen, who farms with her brother near Rose Creek, presented a $2,500 check to the club on behalf of Monsanto Company, which makes various agricultural products.
Bissen, who had received an entry form in the mail through America’s Farmers Grow Communities program sponsored by Monsanto, thought of the 4-H Club when she read the form.
The program is a drawing that farmers can enter to win $2,500 for the charity of their choice. To Bissen, a former 4-H-er, her charity was a no-brainer.
“I thought, ‘If I give this to 4-H, it’s something everybody in the county could take advantage of,’” she said.
Melissa Koch, local 4-H program coordinator, said the club will be able to use the money for its junior master gardener program.
“It will go a long ways,” she said. “It will help with buying tools, supplies, transportation, different things we do when doing project workshops.”
Bissen and many involved in the 4-H program shared the joy of the award at the Mower County 4-H’s project day at the Mower County Fairgrounds.
“I think it’s good when these large corporations will give back to the community. … The 4-H operates under a limited budget,” Bissen said.
