Great Bend Farm Equipment today announced they are partnering with John Deere and FFA to award a college scholarship to a local FFA member. This is the inaugural year of the John Deere Dealer Scholarship Program, which is administered by The National FFA Organization. The program will award up to $250,000 in local scholarships annually.
Great Bend Farm Equipment and John Deere are sponsoring one $2,000 scholarship through the National FFA Scholarship program. This scholarship will provide financial aid to an FFA member attending two or four year colleges. Members of FFA chapters in Great Bend, Ellinwood, Central Plains, LaCrosse, Stafford and Russell are eligible to apply. “We believe that this scholarship is a great way to reward an FFA member in our area for their hard work and hope that it encourages the young person to pursue a career in agriculture,” said Les Hopkins, Owner and General Manager of Great Bend Farm Equipment, the John Deere dealer in Great Bend.
“We are thrilled to be part of this program with John Deere,” said Rob Cooper, Executive Director of the National FFA Foundation. “John Deere and FFA share a commitment to provide educational opportunities for the next generation of leaders in the agriculture industry.”
These scholarships are among the more than 1,500 awarded through the National FFA Organization Scholarship Program each year. Currently, more than 125 corporate sponsors generously contribute nearly $2 million to support this program. Scholarship applications are available online through February 15, 2013, at www.FFA.org/Scholarships.
John Deere is one of the largest and longest continuous sponsors of the National FFA Foundation, providing support for 70 years. The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 557,318 student members in grades seven through 12 who belong to one of 7,498 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.