FFA raises funds for scholarships and more
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Left to right: Trent Freeze, Christian Blevins and Mitch Falck help to identify bidders in the rear of the crowd for the auctioneer.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Guests get a good look at the items up for auction prior to the start.
Photos by TONIA BROOKS Jeannie Pinkerton, secretary for the local Future Farmers of America chapter, tells the crowd during the opening ceremony of Friday’s annual Harvest Auction: “Stationed by the ear of corn, I keep an accurate record of all meetings and correspond with other secretaries wherever corn is grown and FFA members meet.”
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Left to right: Kyle Smith, Eli Richards, Andrew Sandelin, Mitch Falck, and Geneva Freeman man the entrance to the event with smiles and helpful guidance to the attendees.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS The event was led by the FFA members. Auctioneering during this time is Evan Nesbit while, from left to right, Jacob Bremer, Rikki Cowin, and Brycen Cowin help with identifying bidders in the crowd.
Photo by TONIA BROOKS Bidder #27, Gordon Newell, won his bids on a few of the items during the event, lending to the success that the auction provided to help the local chapter to continue with varied travel and other expense needs.
Stationed at the front doors to the event, from left: Trent Freeze, Kirra Callahan, Shyanne Kittell, Cade Jelinek, Katie Smith, Sydney Blevins, and Christian Blevins welcome attendees.
BONNERS FERRY — Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live and living to serve, the motto of the Future Farmers of America is something that our local chapter strives to achieve.
This year’s Annual Harvest Auction was held in the Bonners Ferry High School gym this past Friday, Nov.15.
FFA chapters from across the country gear up and get ready for their Harvest fundraising events during this time of year. They are very important to the students and the organization as a whole.
Chapters raise funding through their events, such as this year’s Harvest Auction, to help with the organization’s goals of preparing members for leadership positions, personal growth, and career success in agriculture.
The high school parking lot was full of vehicles, and once attendees arrived and entered into the commons area for the dinner, it was evident that the event would be successful due to the overwhelming support of the community.
Parents and family members, community members, FFA alumni, and friends all gathered to support a worthy and worthwhile, student-led event and organization, and to bid on some of the auction items both donated by local business and community members, and handmade items by FFA students.
“The auction was a tremendous success,” said local chapter advisor, Julie Smith. “We raised enough to cover scholarships for registration and travel for FFA members to district and state career development events and leadership conferences, for community service activities, and for chapter development events throughout the year,”
“Without the support of our community, members would be limited on the events we could participate in due to our geographical location (our closest events are in Moscow, Idaho) which makes travel to events expensive,” said Smith.
The Bonners Ferry FFA chapter did very well during this year’s event, she noted.
“We exceeded our fundraising goal for the auction this year thanks to such an amazing community that is so giving,” said Smith. “The businesses in Boundary County get hit hard for donations and they always come through; it’s important to support them this holiday season!”