Community Foundation awards $30,000 in grants for local agricultural education
Published 4:37 pm Monday, July 27, 2026
QUINCY — Seven local organizations will share $30,000 in grants aimed at strengthening agricultural education programs across west-central Illinois and northeast Missouri, the Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri announced.
The funding comes through the second year of the foundation’s AgForward grant program, which is supported by the Bob W. Richter Endowment for Agricultural Education and Compeer Financial’s Rural Collaboration Project.
“Every grant through AgForward is a vote of confidence in our region’s future: its students, its workforce, its economy,” said Catherine Meckes, the foundation’s chief executive officer. “That confidence traces back to Mr. Richter, whose generosity built a foundation for agricultural education that will outlast all of us, and to Compeer Financial, whose Rural Collaboration Project helps that foundation reach even further.”
Compeer Financial’s Rural Collaboration Project is a regional effort focused on strengthening rural communities with a long-term vision for growth. Through the initiative, the agricultural lending cooperative has committed more than $1.4 million to 14 community and regional foundations across Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, including the Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri.
“Our agricultural educators and leaders are planting seeds for a future well beyond this season,” Meckes said. “Mr. Richter saw that far ahead, too, and his foresight is why we can keep advancing local agriculture for generations to come. We’re honored to award these grants as a living tribute to that legacy.”
This year’s AgForward grant recipients include the Adams County Farm Bureau, which received funding for two pedal tractors for its Adams County Ag in the Classroom program, and Bella Ease, which will use its grant for an agricultural and nature program. Hannibal-LaGrange University received funding for a chicken coop to support its agribusiness program, while the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation was awarded a grant for experiential agriculture education. The North Shelby School District received funding for its Agricultural Career Pathways Initiative, and Paris R-II was awarded a grant for hands-on animal science materials through its Back to Basics program. Unity High School received funding for an electrathon car.
The Community Foundation Serving West Central Illinois & Northeast Missouri was founded in 1997 and works with donors to build permanent charitable resources and foster collaborative philanthropy across the region. The organization has distributed more than $30 million in grants from roughly 250 funds to support arts and culture, community betterment, education, health, and human services since its founding.
More information about the AgForward program is available by calling the Community Foundation at 217-222-1237 or emailing info@mycommunityfoundation.org.
