AgStar’s Fund for Rural America is Committed to Enhancing the Quality of Life and Future Opportunities for Rural Residents and Their Communities
In 2001, the AgStar Board of Directors established a formal corporate giving program to carry out AgStar’s philanthropic mission. The AgStar Fund for Rural America focuses on four major areas including education, environment, technology and quality of life. For maximum impact these programs fit strategically with the interest of AgStar business and areas of concern facing rural America. AgStar is committed to being a leading corporate citizen in the communities they serve.
AgStar’s commitment to supporting rural communities can be seen through this example of the Fund’s outreach. In 2006, the Fund established the Emergency Response Grant Program to help emergency response departments update equipment. The mission of this program is to support rural communities in their service area by funding emergency response equipment for volunteer fire, rescue or ambulance departments. Each year $50,000 in grants is distributed to rural communities. To date, the Fund has donated over $150,000 to local communities through this grant program.
The Rush City Fire Department is a recent recipient of an AgStar grant. The fire department lacked funds to replace their 25-year-old extraction tool. The old extraction equipment was not effective in cutting though the new materials being used in automobiles and building materials.
Fire Chief Bob Carlson found out about the AgStar Grant opportunity from an AgStar team member and immediately applied. The department received the grant allowing them to purchase the new tool. Chief Carlson was delighted, he said, “I’ve dealt with many grants, but by far this grant process was very simple, very open.”
AgStar knows how important emergency response volunteers are to rural communities’ safety and well being. Even though many of these departments have the essentials, they cannot always afford new technologies to upgrade or replace old equipment. AgStar wants to make sure they are provided with modern equipment to handle all emergency calls. AgStar’s mission is ‘Enhancing Life and Agriculture in Rural America’ and the Fund helps in achieving this mission. To date, the AgStar Fund for Rural America has donated over $2 million to the communities they serve.
For more information on any of the grant programs AgStar has in place, please contact Jody Bloemke, Fund Administrator at 507-345-5656.