Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education (SAVE)

Goal: $25,000.00

Specific Need

As a training farm, we need farm equipment and other farm related items such as seed and fuel. Our students benefit from scholarship funds and help with living expenses. We are building all the time, as part of our training and to meet our growing mission, so building supplies are in high demand. We have a great group of instructors and are seeking more educators and veteran advocates to join our team. Travel costs are a challenge at times. We try and maintain a large social media presence and need advertising support as well.

Mission

Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education, Corp., (SAVE), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 2015. SAVE recognizes the healing of the visible and invisible wounds of war that comes from working in agriculture. SAVE offers a one of a kind, intense, five-month sustainable agriculture training program to veterans, transitioning servicemembers and anyone else who wishes a rewarding career in agriculture. Veterans and transitioning servicemembers also receive transition assistance, and therapy, if needed, to help them succeed in not only their new career but in their new civilian life.

Profile

SAVE is a one-of-a-kind rural agricultural training program certified by the Kansas Board of Regents. Hands-on training and classroom learning for farming and ranching is conducted on SAVE’s 308-acre training farm in Riley, Kansas. SAVE students literally walk out of the classroom and put their classroom learning into immediate action on the farm. SAVE offers courses in animal husbandry, building fences, cover crops, sound agricultural business practices, and regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices, among many others. SAVE’s classroom is large enough to practice social distancing should another COVID variant break out.

SAVE works closely with a diverse coalition of community and government programs to help recruit the disabled, women, minority populations and members of other underserved communities to the SAVE program. Prospective individuals are not denied access due to their disability, religious beliefs, age, gender, or sexual orientation.