Farmers Weekly Review

Debbie Werner earned a 2023 Friend of the Young Leaders Support Award, presented at the Illinois Farm Bureau annual meeting recently in Chicago.

Corey Brandau, past-Chairman of the Will County Farm Bureau Young Farmers Committee, nominated Werner for the award in membership group 5.

Corey stated that Debbie has been a strong supporter of the Young Farmers ever since she and her husband, Don, served as Young Farmer members about 35 years ago.

She has attended their events, served as a registration person for their golf outing for the 10 years it has been in existence, has donated prizes to many of the pedal pull events we do each year, has spoken to Young Farmer groups about getting involved and has always met them with a smile.

She has encouraged 4H members to join the Young Farmers as well as FFA members and has helped the committee with fair activities, donating of pedal tractors for raising money for the foundation events the Young Farmers does each year for over 30 years.

“When we host retirement events for our Young Farmers committee, she attends and thanks them for their service,” Brandau said. “She has been a mentor for our group over the years providing suggestions, ideas, and backing of our events and has assisted with placing our events on social media at least 25 times a year.

“Debbie has provided us with praise, as well as telling us where we fell short; in a positive way and showing us how we can improve.

“She has been a leader for our events and is always talking about our events, including our used tire collection we do every 5th year. Debbie has shared program ideas to consider sponsoring over the years and has supported us at all levels.”