At the annual Hillsboro City Schools open house on Aug. 6 the Hillsboro FFA Chapter supplied every fourth-grade student at Hillsboro Elementary with a book bag filled with school supplies for the 2015-16 school year.
The FFA chapter received a grant through Agriculture and Rural Community Outreach Program (ARCOP). The grant was for $2,500. This was the second year the chapter was able to get the grant.
Part of the FFA’s motto is “living to serve,” so this was one way the Hillsboro FFA could live to serve in its community.
School supply shopping can be stressful for some families, so providing a book bag and supplies was one way to help. Students from the chapter went to the local Walmart to purchase all the necessary school supplies on July 9. On July 17, students met in the ag department to pack 190 book bags. After purchasing and packing all the supplies, the chapter budgeted better than the previous year and was able to buy all the fourth grade teachers containers filled with teacher supplies. The teachers and students were extremely excited about the new supplies.
Bryanna Burekle, an FFA member, reported, “After distributing the book bags and seeing the happiness of the fourth graders when they received the new book bag and supplies, it made me happy to start the school year.”
Submitted by Meredith Oglesby, Hillsboro FFA Chapter president.