Since September of 2001, local third graders have been taking part in Colorado State University’s Agricultural Adventure held at the CSU Agricultural Research, Development and Education Center, or ARDEC. The event is fully staffed by student volunteers from the College of Agricultural Sciences, but Ag Adventure still needs significant financial support to pay for participant transportation and consumables for the event. A recent donation from the Rotary Club of Fort Collins Satellite will provide enough support to pay for busing for nearly one half of all elementary students and teachers who will participate next September. 
Each year, more than 1,700 students from 74 Poudre School District third-grade classrooms attend, along with their teachers, parents and chaperones, and rotate among learning centers where they see third-grade principles in math, science and social science applied to animal production and care; soil and water resource management; farm, meat and food safety; and many other important topics in today’s agricultural industry.
“Ag Adventure is very lucky to have the Rotary Club as a sponsor,” said Alex Heeke, student co-chair of the Agricultural Adventure planning committee. “This partnership will allow us to continue to increase the educational quality the third graders receive as well as continue the professional development of CSU students.” Heeke is a junior majoring in agricultural business.
BBBrew Fundraiser
Last summer the Rotary group raised more than $7,000 at its BBBrew for Hope event, an annual Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned barbecue competition and fundraising event organized by Rotary Club of Fort Collins Satellite volunteers. The $7,000 was split among CSU’s Ag Adventure, Childsafe, and the Rotary Club of Fort Collins International Projects and Grants Committee. The fundraiser was held in July 2016 at CSU’s B.W. Pickett Equine Center, and the donation to Ag Adventure was the idea of Equine Sciences director and CSU veterinarian Dr. Jerry Black.
“We were completely surprised at this generous gift,” says Marshall Frasier, a professor in CSU’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and faculty advisor to Agricultural Adventure. “Following the successful BBBrew event, the folks from Rotary were looking to share their financial success with CSU. We were very fortunate that Dr. Black immediately recognized how closely the Ag Adventure purpose and impact mirrors the core values of the Rotary Club and suggested this as a good match.”
About Rotary Club Satellite
The Rotary Club Satellite group hosts at least two major service projects each year, designed to “improve the quality of life at home and abroad, while expanding international understanding and goodwill.” The BBBrew for Hope fundraiser was one of the 2016 events.
For more information on the Rotary Club of Fort Collins Satellite group, visit their website.
