18 It’s Farming. And It’s Better. Better Farming | November 2023 OFA Revive Fund e OFA created the Revive Fund in 2020 to support projects created by regional federations to improve their rural communities. “ e Revive Fund started as a COVID project for us,” says Drew Spoelstra, vice-president of OFA. “We had some signi cant savings because we couldn’t have meetings or events or gather as a board in person.” e fund was created using the saved money as a way for the OFA to continue to give back to their membership. “We had a few categories – mental health, public trust initiatives, sign campaigns for road safety, education of the public about agriculture, and leadership, training and engagement,” says Spoelstra. “It started in 2020 with $100,000 to be matched by the counties, which ended up being about a $200,000 total commitment across 51 counties. “Not all counties joined, but many did, and the money was all spent.” e fund also led to collaboration between local federations on several projects, building a greater sense of community between regions. “Many counties jumped on the bandwagon and implemented some great projects. ey needed to identify a project in their local area and then ll out a short application form. at was forwarded to the team at OFA, was evaluated based on merit, and was approved by the board,” Spoelstra explains. County federations designed a variety of projects that educated the public and urban populations about farming, addressed farm safety concerns, and improved their local community. Better Farming reached out to a few local federations to learn about what projects have been happening and how they have bene ted the OFA membership and their surrounding communities. Perth County: Mystery Farm Hop e Perth County Federation of Agriculture collaborated with Perth County Tourism and Economic Development, and Perth County Connect, a A group enjoys a wagon ride at Kampcreek Dairy during a farm hop. ‘REVIVING’ REGIONAL AG FEDERATIONS THE OFA HELPS FEDERATIONS TO CONNECT WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES. BY EMILY CROFT Ashley Brockelbank photo
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