By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

TRAFALGAR, Ind. — Hope means living with the expectation that something good is going to happen, and a little hope can go a long way.

The Indiana FFA Foundation Board of Directors voted last week to keep and maintain the 40-year-old Indiana FFA Leadership Center despite several years of losing money. The 13-member board looked at options such as selling the facility, selling a portion of the 170 acres and changing the center’s management structure.

They opted for the latter.

An Indiana FFA Center Committee will be established with the power to manage and oversee day-to-day-operations, said Brian Buchanan, executive director of the Foundation.

“They will have the power to hire an FFA Center director just to manage the center,” he said. “Never in its history have we had a manager just to manage the center. It has always been associated with another job.”

Buchanan said the committee will be developed next month, and after members have been oriented they will take on the challenge of creating a new direction for the center. They will then hire a director capable of making the center self-sufficient while also meeting the needs of FFA members.

The Foundation has established a trust fund called Give Hope to support the center. Only the interest earned on donations will be used for the center. With a goal of $2 million and donations already coming in, Buchanan feels the fund will provide long-term stability for the center’s goals.

“The Foundation board has listened to concerns from members, former members and others and heard about their passion to keep the center,” he said. “If they truly want to show their commitment to the FFA Center, now is the time to make a contribution to the ‘Give Hope’ campaign. That’s how the board will gauge hope, if people step up to the plate now.”

For more information on how you can donate to Give Hope, e-mail Brian Buchanan at brianbuchanan@yahoo.com or call him at 317-878-4178.

This farm news was published in the June 13, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.