Farmers Weekly Review

The Will County Farm Bureau Foundation met at 9 am on Monday, December 19^th, with members Kris Mulderink, Jim Robbins, Diane Tordai, Debbie Werner, Lyle Tewes, and Mark Schneidewind, Farm Bureau manager, present. Lyle reported that Rita was under the weather. She had called but to assign her the contacts for the auction.

The first item of business on the agenda was reviewing the financial statements for the fiscal year end of September 30, 2022. The auditor was here in November, but we do not have the final reports back yet. After a good review, the Foundation board looked at the current year’s income and expenses, and currently, we are ahead of last year at this time frame. A motion was made and seconded to place the financials on file, and the motion carried.

Lyle reported that the scholarship applications went online on the Farm Bureau website on December 1^st. Some adjustments were taken care of and reflected in the application this year. We will look to provide 52 scholarships valued at $1,500 each and an additional 2 scholarships for ag education applications of $1,500 each. We will also award $1,000 for internships for ag in the classroom and will provide up to $700 in teacher grants as well. The Foundation will also offer up to $700 in Master Gardener grants with restrictions on the Master Gardeners being Will County Farm Bureau members. We will also provide assistance for ag-in-the-classroom videos not to exceed $1,500. The board decided not to move beyond this, but anything else is subject to change under the guidelines established by the Foundation.

The next item on the agenda was that we have started the collection process on the 2023 silent auction and have 31 items donated to date.

The goal is to get 120 items for the silent auction, plus cash donations. The board took 40 minutes to review the process and make assignments for contacts over the next 2 weeks. Donations need to be in by January 6^th at the latest so we can put pictures and details together for the online auction.

The online auction will begin on January 18^th and will end at 9 pm on February 1^st. We will do 3-4 raffles and 3-4 live auction items at the actual annual meeting on January 28, 2023. The group discussed some activities to do since the silent auction will not physically be there in person at the annual meeting on January 28^th in Peotone.

Raffle ticket prices have been set, and invites are out to the 2022 scholarship winners to attend the annual meeting. After the auction, February 2 – 3 will be the final paperwork time, and auction pick-up will be set for February 6-10 at the Farm Bureau office. We will have a picture display for the annual meeting and will identify items for live and raffles after January 1st.

The live auction items will be the excursion, booze wagon, Case & Deere Pedal tractors choice. Raffle items will be Afghan, Cross Bow, and either gas cards or restaurant gift certificates in a package deal. We will be securing raffle workers over the next three weeks.

The Foundation Board will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, February 7^th, at 9 am. The meetings will now be held on Tuesdays in the future. Lyle asked if everyone was still interested in serving on the board for the 2023 year, and at this point, all agreed to stay on the board for the Foundation. The meeting was adjourned at 10:22 am.