In 2022, Champions of Youth received a grant from the Ag Field of Interest Fund for their project Plant a Seed, Harvest a Future. The Ag Field of Interest Fund was created by and continues to be supported by local ag producers who are interested in furthering interest and knowledge in agriculture.
"Thank you again for supporting our Plant a Seed, Harvest a Future Project through your special grant opportunity. As with any project or event, so much planning and preparation is done months in advance without having a clue of how everything will end up. Mother Nature is a huge factor, and she sure put a damper on us this year. We planned for 7 varieties of vegetable plants. We ended up giving out over 2500 plants with educational material, planting instructions, and recipe cards for their harvest. We were disappointed that the all-day rain prohibited more families from attending, though with every disappointment there is a blessing and our blessing was that we were able to sign up 10 children in need of our mentoring services. These children were kids we would not have been able to reach without the opportunity to make that in-person connection with parents and guardians. So, despite the low attendance turnout and being soaked to the bone all day, we call our Plant a Seed, Harvest a Future, a huge success!" - Lisa Hermesch, Executive Director- Champions of Youth
Ag Field of Interest Grants have a rolling deadline. Be sure to check DCCF's Facebook for when the next grant cycle opens.