Clinton County Conservation District Receives Two Grants
The Clinton County Conservation District, a critical education, service and leadership agency promoting stewardship and conservation of the county’s natural resources, is a recipient of two competitive grants from the Clinton County Community Foundation.
A $1,500 grant was awarded for the popular annual Farm City Family Festival to be held at the county fairgrounds on Saturday, Sept. 16. Susie Peters, the CCCD’s deputy district manager shown above at left, said “the festival is a celebration created to recognize the relationship between local communities and the farms that surround them. American farmers literally help to feed the world by producing a bounty of agricultural products. To do this, they rely on essential partnerships with communities to supply, sell, and deliver finished products across the country.
By working together, rural and urban communities have made the most of our nation’s rich agricultural resources that contribute to the health and well-being of our country and to the strength of our economy. The festival is a family-based activity designed to highlight the farm-city connection and will include equipment demonstrations, celebrity goat milking contest, milk chugging contest, pumpkin decorating, pie eating contest, antique farm equipment displays, recognition of the farm and city businesses of the year, and much more. There will be activities for young children, including a pedal tractor pull and other games throughout the day. We anticipate the total operating cost to run the Farm-City celebration to be between $1,500-$2,000 in 2023. Grant monies go entirely to supporting the event, such as advertising, purchasing supplies for children’s activities and educational activities. We certainly need support to continue this important FREE educational event for the farm-city community.”
The second Foundation grant of $1,000 is for the district’s No-Till Community Garden at the agency’s grounds on Cooperation Lane outside Mill Hall. CCCD Executive Director Wade Jodun, shown above at right, explained that no-till is a technique for growing crops without disturbing the soil through tillage which reduces soil erosion.
Tillage of the soil weakens and disrupts the physical and biological properties of the soil. Tillage disrupts soil structure, destroys fungal networks, and weakens the microbiotic community that builds soil, metabolizes and holds nutrients and absorbs and holds water. The District intends to document how to build a no-till garden, monitor its progress, and then present a workshop on no-till gardening. Additionally, the District will plant a series of native plants to attract pollinators to help pollinate the vegetable garden and increase its productivity.
“All of the harvested vegetables will be provided to the New Love Center food pantry in Avis. The New Love Center’s programs have been instrumental in helping those in need bridge the food gap, and their programs currently reach more than 60 percent of the households in need for Clinton County,” Jodun said.
For more on how to give to a cause close to your heart, contact the Foundation online at www.clintoncountyfoundation.
