Stemilt Named WAEF Group Volunteer Pt 1
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Stemilt Growers has been recognized by the Washington Apple Education Foundation for its dedication and volunteerism in support of college students in agriculture.
Stemilt’s Brianna Shales says it’s really great to be recognized in this way …
SHALES … “Every year, WAEF honors a group volunteer of the year and this year we were lucky enough to be recognized with that honor. And, I believe that it’s because we had a great number of employees volunteer their time during the 2019 year.”
Shales says Stemilt actually had about 16 employees who volunteered in a number of ways …
SHALES … “We had a few that served as student mentors. We had some host WAEF students as a job shadow and career exploration event. And, then we always volunteer at WAEF’s fundraising golf tournament and also had a few people serve on their scholarship selection committee, which is a really intensive process because they have so man scholarship applications to review and select from. And, we even have an employee who’s on the WAEF Board of Directors.”
But, Shales says it’s a win-win for the students AND the industry, so that’s really special …
SHALES … “Because our founder, and now our president, West Mathison just really believes in making sure that the next generation of professionals can have access to education. And, it’s very expensive and so that’s how we can support their needs, but also keep them connected to our tree fruit industry.”
Come back tomorrow to hear more about Stemilt’s motivation to help WAEF and college ag students.
