Community
Involvement
Harris County Farm Bureau believes in being involved in many activities
on an annual basis.
Here is a sampling of their commitment to farmers and youth in the county:
• Samantha Bartholomew gave a positive report at a Harris County Farm Bureau Board meeting about her experience at the 2007 Youth Leadership Conference. HCFB sends high school students each year.
• TFB Field Representative Jessica Collard shows the importance of soil in the production of everything we eat and also the percentages of the earth used for food production during a workshop held for Houston ISD teachers on Oct. 25.
• County Ag Coordinator Kristin Fuller did a cotton
presentation as part of History Day at Barker-Cypress Community College
on April 21. She spoke to students, adults and children about cotton,
how it grows, what the cotton gin does and the uses for cotton today.
• Above, FFA students at Austin High School learned about the responsibilities of their Legislators when Harris County Farm Bureau County Coordinator Kristin Fuller and TFB lobbyist Warren Mayberry brought the Congressional Insight program to their classes. This simulation is designed to teach students what types of decisions their Representatives make daily and what ramifications those decisions have. Students were divided into groups, each representing a different fictional Congressperson, and were led through eleven rounds of difficult questions and decisions. Students had to attempt to please their constituents while keeping good relationships with other groups as well. In the end, the groups who were re-elected were victorious and the group in each class who was re-elected by the greatest margin won a pizza party. This program is an exciting way to educate youth about Congress.
• Kristin Fuller, County Coordinator, presented “Agriculture’s
Importance to Texas” to FFA students at Austin High School. She used
a by-product booth to explain that many products used daily come from
agriculture. She also showed a cotton video from “Cotton’s Journey:
A Field Trip in a Box.”
• Harris County Farm Bureau sponsored a booth during the Bayou Bend Ranch Rodeo on September 13 and 14. The Harris CFB continues to promote agriculture and support the community.
• Learning the value of agriculture early...
Food Check-Out Day celebrates the affordability of food in the U.S. These Harris County youth enjoyed a visit from Ronald McDonald but the Yorkshire Academy in Houston, with approximately 150 children enrolled, also collected 1,200 pieces of food to donate to the Ronald McDonald House.
• A Grant Program for FFAs means that each FFA program in our county receives $125 to use on programs, such as buying equipment for school, using as add-on money for stock show auctions, sending officers to camps or leadership seminars, or anything else the chapter may need.
• The Day on the Farm program held each spring gives between 300 and 400 students from the Houston area a chance to see what farm life is all about. Co-sponsors this year included the Texas Quarter Horse Association, Texas Emu Association, Texas Beef Council & Coastal Cattlewomen's Association, Harris County 4-H, Texas Forest Service, and Harris County Water & Soil Board.
• Scholarships can be earned through the Youth Contests. Each year the county sends a the winner of the Talent and Queen's contests to participate in the district contest in hopes of advancing to the state contest.
• A local fireman is sent to the Fire School & Emergency Response School. Farm Bureau believes fire departments have been very effective in reducing the amount of loss incurred by fire in rural areas.
Harris County Farm Bureau Vice President Edwin Cannon presents a check and certificate to John Pepper, Jr. for completing the annual Fireman's Training School.
• Harris CFB leaders participate in an active legislative program by responding to action requests and attending legislative meetings in the area. Leaders also attend the state Leadership Seminar and Leader Day.
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