Corporate Partner
Inducted December 7, 2010
Alabama Farmers Cooperative Inc. and Bonnie Plants support the 4-H program throughout the state of Alabama. Reaching across the history of Alabama 4-H, store managers and staff provide countless volunteer hours and donor support to individual clubs and county programs.
The AFC Cooperative Farming News has featured the column “Alabama 4-H and Extension Corner” since July 2005. To date, 64 columns have been produced highlighting 4-H activities in local communities, ranging from the recent poultry chick-chain project to forestry judging and life skills learned.
The Alabama 4-H Junior Master Gardener program is a direct result of the financial support of AFC and Bonnie Plants Inc. More than $175,000 has been committed to the program, allowing 4-H staff to provide JMG programming and support local grants to JMG clubs, ensuring it is one of the most successful programs in 4-H. More than 4,500 youth participated in 150 JMG clubs in the 2010 4-H year. For 2011, an additional 60 JMG clubs have already registered.
JMG clubs are varied: Castlen Elementary School in Grand Bay is the first school in the state in which every teacher is a trained JMG volunteer, and Thursdays are dedicated to JMG in all classrooms, kindergarten through fifth grade. In Jefferson County, horticulture therapists have been trained as JMG volunteers. They work with special needs high school students using the JMG curriculum to train youth in plant science and job science skills in workforce preparation.
Nominated by the Alabama 4-H Club Foundation, Inc.
