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This is the season of giving, and what better way to give than to give the gift of leadership skills, personal growth, and career success? You can do that by giving the gift of blue through FFA.
“That’s our identity, and when we put that FFA jacket on, that gives us a community that is so much bigger than who we are individually,” says National FFA President Thaddeus Bergschneider from Illinois.
That well-recognized FFA jacket means so much to each of the over 1 million FFA members nationwide. And Bergschneider explains, “You can give that gift to FFA members across the country, helping remove that financial barrier and giving them the opportunity to have a place, and a jacket, within our organization.”
An $85 gift will provide a member with a jacket and tie or scarf; a donation of any amount helps. Bergschneider explains what it was like the first time he put on an FFA jacket.
“My first contest was ag sales as a freshman, and at that time, I didn’t have my own FFA jacket. And so I have on my dress pants, I have on my white shirt, I have on my tie, I need to leave in 10 minutes. ‘Dad, Dad! I don’t have an FFA jacket!’ And he takes me back in the closet, and he digs out his. It’s more purple than blue at this point, but I put it on and yeah, it might not fit completely right, but it’s an FFA jacket. So, for my first FFA competition, I was Paul Bergschneider. And then when I was elected to be the National FFA president, actually I put that jacket back on because I figured I’d want that to be the last jacket I wore because it was also the first jacket I wore. So, that first FFA jacket has a special place in my heart.”
If you’re thinking about end-of-year giving, visit ffa.org/giveblue to donate. National FFA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3). Your donation is tax-deductible; you will receive an email receipt for tax purposes.