FORT WAYNE, Ind. — It’s time for the 26th annual Fort Wayne Farm Show, set for Jan. 13-15 – and with this favorite indoor farm show comes the Indiana FFA Scholarship Auction.

Held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, FFA members from around Indiana have gathered up auction offerings to sell on Jan. 13-14, at 1 p.m. each day.

“The auction began several years ago at the Fort Wayne Farm Show as a way to partner with companies in the northeast part of the state, where we have a large number of FFA chapters,” explained Lisa Chaudion, executive director of the Indiana FFA Foundation.

Staged at the suggestion of Tradexpos, the farm show’s management, the first FFA auction was a huge success and has been a mainstay at the show ever since. “Every year that we’ve held the auction it’s grown, and is now close to generating $25,000,” said Chaudion.

From pedal tractors to hotel packages to seed corn, the goods at the auction hold wide appeal. “We will get donations from companies ahead of time and while we are at the farm show, the FFA students will gather donations from the vendors and the item list grows quickly,” said Chaudion.

Anywhere from 100-150 items will be auctioned off by Schrader Auction Co., as it donate its services.

“We get gift baskets from all kinds of farm companies – Mary Kay cosmetic baskets, Indiana Pacers tickets, seed corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa, as well as packages from the chemical companies,” she listed.

Indiana FFA membership is at a 30-year high, 10,600 members strong, with the expectation of hitting the 11,000-member mark in 2015. With this kind of membership base the organization’s needs have increased over the years.

“All of the money goes back into programs that are held across the entire state. So, it not only helps with the scholarship program, it helps with the career development events, activities that Indiana FFAers are responsible for doing, and it opens up more doors for members to participate not only at the state level but at the local level as well.”

While all of the money goes into a general fund, one area that has quadrupled in demand is the scholarship need for attending conferences and camps.

Chaudion added, “We have summer camps and conferences throughout the year, and we are finding more and more students are limited in coming to camp, so we open up this opportunity for those students who may not be able to afford to come to a camp otherwise.”

The auction items will be displayed on tables in the main entrance of the Coliseum and the auction will be held there. The sale will begin at 1 p.m. next Tuesday and Wednesday, and donations will be accepted up until the time of auction.

In addition, the Indiana FFA will have a booth at the show to field questions about the program. Chaudion noted, “On behalf of the Indiana FFA Foundation we would like to thank everyone for their support of the sale and the FFA program.”

For questions or for those wanting to donate to the auction, contact Chaudion via email at lchaudion@inffa.org or call 317-878-4178. Monetary donations are also welcome any time at www.inffa.org/ foundation