FFA Alumni chapter supports next generation

    During the fall, a meeting was held at Holyoke High School to gauge community interest in an FFA booster organization. Put simply, the interest was there. Now an established group of parents and community members have paid their dues, elected officers and applied to be an official FFA Alumni chapter.
    Holyoke’s chapter is under the National FFA Alumni Association, which aims to have an active and fully engaged FFA Alumni affiliate for every FFA chapter. Such affiliates exist to support the student members and their adviser through fundrasising and advocacy.
    Officers elected to the Holyoke chapter are president Minda Mares, vice president Mendi Lutze, secretary Tina Vieselmeyer and treasurer Ranae McCallum.
    Though the name might suggest otherwise, Mares explained that FFA Alumni members don’t have to be former FFA members or alumni of HHS. Any community member who wishes to support the students is welcome to join.
    About 20 have been meeting on the third Monday of each month in the HHS ag department. Most are parents of current FFA members, but some are parents of younger kids and others are recent graduates looking to give back to an organization that helped them in the past.
    One of the primary goals of the FFA Alumni chapter is to provide local seniors with agriculture scholarships. To kick off their efforts, the chapter will be hosting a silent auction at the FFA/FCCLA service sale Monday, Feb. 19, at the HHS old gym.
    In addition to creating scholarships, the chapter is striving to support students with their time, assistance and knowledge.

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