Earlier this year, Andrea Whitfield, a financial services specialist for AgSouth, announced that the cooperative's Statesboro employees had pledged 100 days of personal service to their community to celebrate Farm Credit's service to our nation's rural communities.
        The nationwide farmer-owned cooperative will celebrate 100 years of financing farmers and rural America on July 17.
        Whitfield said that employees will collect items for Bulloch County's STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) labs for the next 100 days so that when schools come back for the 2016-17 school year, they have supplies to implement the program.
        Credit Analyst Jennifer Williams and Whitfield are spearheading the project and said that STEM labs increase the opportunity for students to make connections in science, technology, engineering and math by: (1) applying knowledge and skills learned in their academic classes to problem-solving tasks and projects; (2) collaborating with local STEM community partners on projects; and (3) improving student familiarity with data collection and how to use data to formulate evidence-based conclusions in order to pursue more advanced, long-term projects.
        "We are helping with a project that will empower the next generation to use this education and experience to create a successful future for them and solve problems and create a better world for us all," Whitfield said.
        The company also is requesting help from local communities. Needed donations to the project are on AgSouth's website at AgSouthFC.com. Look under "Announcements" to see what items are needed. Also, items may be dropped off at the AgSouth Farm Credit office at 40 South Main Street in Statesboro.