Vance County Farm Bureau endows VGCC Scholarship
Members of the Vance County Farm Bureau recently presented a gift to the Vance-Granville Community Endowment Fund that will create a new scholarship.
The first Vance County Farm Bureau Academic Achievement scholarship will be awarded to a VGCC student at the college’s next scholarship award ceremony. Preferences will be given to students from farming families or who are closely related to Vance County Farm Bureau members. Because the Farm Bureau intends to promote agriculture through the scholarship, a preference will also be given for students majoring in agriculture-related curriculum programs.
The Vance County Farm Bureau is the local unit of the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation , which was founded in 1936 with the goal of protecting the interests of farm and rural families across the state. Vance County is home to at least 228 farms. Farm Bureau leaders have always had a keen interest in education, supporting scholarships, high school programs and “Ag in the Classroom” for younger children. For the past three years, students in VGCC’s Early Childhood Associate program have worked with the Farm Bureau to hold “ Farm Day ” events, which introduce children and their teachers to the “Ag in the Classroom” curriculum.
The new scholarship will add to the more than 5,000 VGCC scholarships awarded since 1982, which have been funded by interest earned on the Endowment Fund and Scholarship Program. Scholarships have been established by individuals, businesses, civic groups, churches and the college’s faculty and staff to assist deserving VGCC students. Tax-deductible donations to the VGCC Endowment Fund have often been used to honor or remember a person, group, business or industry with a lasting gift to education.
Above: Vance County Farm Bureau leaders present their contribution to the VGCC Endowment Fund. Seated, from left, Scholarship Committee members Pete Burgess and Becky Faulkner, Farm Bureau vice president Clifton Capps and Scholarship Committee member Joel Harris. Standing, from left, VGCC Vice President of Institutional Advancement/Endowment Director Jo Anna Jones, VGCC President Randy Parker, Farm Bureau president Thomas Shaw and VGCC Endowment specialist Kay Currin. (VGCC photo)
