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Normal -- 1st Farm Credit Services has announced it again will
offer its "At the heart of a growing America" agricultural
scholarship program in 2003, according to Wayne Gustafson,
president and CEO of the farmer-owned financial services
cooperative. Up to 23 individual $750 scholarships will be
awarded in 1st Farm Credit Services’ 42-county service area to
graduating high school seniors who have been accepted into an
agriculture or agriculture-related curriculum at a university,
college or community college. The program is open to 1st FCS
client and non-client families. The applicants must reside in,
or attend school in, 1st FCS’ service area. Children and
grandchildren of 1st FCS employees or current directors are
not eligible for the scholarships.
Selection for the scholarships will be based on a
combination of academic achievement, community and
agricultural youth organization involvement, and a brief
essay. An independent panel of agribusiness, education, youth
and farm organization leaders will judge the scholarship
applications.
Students interested in applying should obtain a
scholarship application from their high school guidance
counselor, Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter advisor,
county 4-H office, by contacting the local 1st Farm Credit
Services office at 1-800-444-FARM, or at the organization’s
Internet site: usfarmcredit.com
Application Link
Scholarship applications must be returned to a local 1st
Farm Credit Services office no later than April 4, 2003. The
scholarships will be presented during the FCS organization’s
local client appreciation functions held throughout the
summer.
In addition, 1st Farm Credit Services also is continuing
its scholarship program to community colleges with an
agricultural curriculum. In 2003, a total of $500 in
scholarship funding will be available at each of the following
nine community colleges: Blackhawk College – East Campus,
Kewanee; Carl Sandburg College, Galesburg; Highland Community
College, Freeport; Illinois Central College, East Peoria;
Illinois Valley Community College, Oglesby; John Wood
Community College, Quincy; Joliet Junior College, Joliet;
Kishwaukee College, Malta; and Spoon River College, Canton.
For applications and selection details about the 1st FCS
agricultural scholarship – and other available scholarships at
these community colleges -- students should contact the
college’s financial aid office or agriculture department
directly.
"We are pleased to be offering these scholarship programs,
not only because they will assist deserving students to
further their education in an agriculture-related field, but
also because they will help promote agriculture as a vital and
growing career opportunity," Gustafson states.
1st Farm Credit Services, headquartered in Normal, serves
agricultural producers, agribusinesses and farm real estate
owners through 23 offices.
1st Farm Credit Services is the leading provider of farm
real estate financing; revolving operating loans linked with a
money market investment account; equipment and building
leasing and loans; farm appraisals; and Crop Revenue Coverage
(CRC), multi-peril, crop hail and credit life insurances.
Farm Credit Services, rural America’s client-owned partner
for more than 85 years, helps maintain and improve the quality
of life in rural America and on the farm through its constant
commitment to competitive lending, expert financial services
and advice, and a feeling of partnership with its clients. |
