Community Service Grants Available for Ag Youth Organizations

November 19, 2015

Applications must be postmarked by Dec. 1, 2015

Community Service Grants Available for Ag Youth Organizations

(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) – Missouri 4-H and FFA chapters planning community improvement service projects can apply for grant funding through the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Applications for the annual Building Our American Communities Grant (BOAC) Program are available at agriculture.mo.gov and are being accepted until Dec. 1, 2015.

“The young men and women involved in agriculture are building the future of our industry and our state,” said Director of Agriculture Richard Fordyce. “This program provides them with needed resources to continue to enhance the communities in which they live, all while teaching them the value of giving back and allowing them to connect with their community.” 

The Building Our American Communities Grant Program awards grants of up to $500 to support youth-driven service projects. Since the 1970s, 4-H clubs and FFA chapters throughout Missouri have submitted proposals for specific projects within their communities for consideration for the grants. 

Proposed projects should improve the social and physical environment of rural cities, towns and farm communities and may include upgrades or additions to existing facilities, grounds or buildings used by local organizations. Past BOAC projects have included improvements for local fairgrounds, rural intersections and parks, as well as renovations for damaged and aged public use structures in rural communities, including those used by area 4-H and FFA groups.

Each year, the Building Our American Communities Grant Program awards up to twelve $500 grants to 4-H clubs and twelve $500 grants to FFA chapters, two in each of the six districts, to support projects that benefit an agricultural community and/or promote community development. The 2015 program awarded grant funding to ten 4-H clubs and nine FFA chapters representing Cooper, Morgan, Barton, Linn, Osage, Boone, Callaway, Daviess, Scott, Wright and Ste. Genevieve counties. The grants are funded through Missouri’s Agriculture Development Fund under an agreement with the USDA.

For a Building Our American Communities grant application or more information about this and other grant opportunities available through the Missouri Department of Agriculture, visit agriculture.mo.gov. 

###