West Holmes FFA hosts successful fundraiser

It’s always fun for a family, couple or group of friends to go out for an evening meal, and recently, the West Holmes High School FFA chapter created a night filled with food and fellowship as its members stepped into some new roles that helped them develop both leadership and public speaking skills.

The West Holmes FFA chapter convened Tuesday, Feb. 3 at Farmstead Restaurant in Berlin for the FFA’s annual fundraiser, which is about a great deal more than just good food and raising funds to support the many FFA programs.

During the event the FFA received 15% of every sale and all the tips for the evening, and they received plenty of support from families and friends who made the trek across the county to show their support.

According to adviser Jaime Chenevey, this is about giving her students a chance to stretch themselves beyond the boundaries of comfortability, putting themselves into positions where they must initiate conversations and practice their public speaking skills.

“As much as anything, this is a great experience for our kids and an important opportunity for them to connect with the public,” Chenevey said. “While it is a fundraiser, the bigger value is the interaction and experience our kids get with connecting with the community.”

She said many of the FFA members may have never worked in the service industry, and gaining this experience is a valuable tool in helping them branch out and develop new skills.

Even as the FFA team members did their jobs serving, waiting on tables, greeting and cleaning up, they were able to share about their personal experiences in FFA with the diners, which helped perpetuate more interest in everything the program is doing, from fruit sales to attending state conventions, speaking engagements and other service-oriented engagements within the community.

Chenevey said overall, the evening usually results in around $3,300 in funds raised, which also is one of the big benefits of the night.

FFA member Cassidy Holasek said this event is always enjoyable because they get a chance to be together and serve others, both big parts of what FFA offers.

“We’re having a great time together,” she said. “This is an important event because it gives us a chance to grow our foundation and to inform people about everything we are doing.”

WHHS FFA member Shane Lorentz said the opportunity to serve helps build team chemistry, with the chapter officer team creating flyers to promote the event while also driving it on social media.

“It’s fun to see the community come out to support us like this and interact with us,” Lorentz said.

He said it also is interesting to see how individual members come together to work as a team to pull off what is a busy and challenging event.

FFA member Claire Drzazga, who was participating in the event for the fourth time in her FFA career, said there is a certain excitement that accompanies the event as it showcases how the community has a desire to support the FFA because people understand what type of value the FFA provides for West Holmes teen members.

“It is really fun seeing all these familiar faces turning up to show their support for our chapter,” Drzazga said.

She said many of the jobs involved in the evening, from busing and waiting on tables to greeting visitors as they come in, provide opportunities to converse with people and listen to what is going on in their lives.

“That aspect is so important because in FFA we do a lot with our community, and learning how to communicate and connect is important,” Drzazga said. “I’m going to miss this when I graduate.”