FFA leaders to visit Fairbanks, present Food Bank check

February 21, 2017

The public is invited to an informal meet-and-greet Feb. 23 with national FFA leaders at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The meet-and-greet will be held from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Murie Building atrium and auditorium. National FFA President David Townsend; Josh Bledsoe, the chief operation officer; and Ben Meyer, the regional specialist for national FFA, will be in Fairbanks to discuss the role of agriculture and natural resources management education and opportunities in Alaska. They will give a short presentation at the campus event.

Townsend, 21, is an agricultural and natural resources, plant science major at the University of Delaware. He will also participate, with other FFA officials and Alaska FFA, in a check presentation Feb. 22 at the Fairbanks Community Food Bank.

Alaska FFA won $15,000 from Tyson Foods for having the best chapter participation in a national FFA Hungry Heroes Challenge to grow, harvest and collect foods for food banks and other organizations. All 12 Alaska chapters participated. The check will be donated to the Fairbanks food bank and shared with a Mat-Su food bank.

While in Fairbanks, Townsend will also speak at the Alaska Sustainable Agriculture Conference, which is hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, and at Effie Kokrine Early College Charter School.

“Agricultural education is more important than ever, especially in Alaska where we are dependent on out-of-state food sources," said Sue McCullough, the president of the Alaska Association of Agricultural and Natural Resource Educators.

FFA is a national youth education organization affiliated with the Cooperative Extension Service. For more information about the FFA visit, contact Kevin Fochs, Alaska state FFA advisor, at kfochs@alaska.edu or 907-707-9710, or McCullough at scmccullough@alaska.edu or 907-474-0958 ext. 33183.