A big step towards our vision of building sustainable farm networks was made possible in November with help from participating Youngevity Members and NMSU community donors. On November 26, 2018 we held our first annual Regenerative Aggie Scholarship Fundraiser. The date was strategically planned to take advantage of Cyber Monday online shopping, and Giving Tuesday community donors. Outcome totals await confirmation from the NMSU Development Office, but our estimates indicate that next fall two juniors or seniors in the College of Agriculture will be rewarded for studies that help them pursue the goal of building regenerative farms.
Furthermore, new doors were opened to us by faculty, staff, and students who appreciated this effort. New distributors had the opportunity to experience online fundraising, and more than 400 facebook members got the message that we are working to rebuild local food systems. We learned from the experience, and planted some seeds. May our harvest grow each year.
We are incredibly grateful to our entire network of donors, including the many as-of-yet undisclosed members of the NMSU community who contributed matching funds on Giving Tuesday. In particular we thank Glen Schultz of Schultz Family Farms, Tom Chenault of the Tom Chenault Show and Marianne Niehaus , Libby Hamilton, and Caterina Platt for their contributions to the next generation of local farmers.