The Tractor Supply Company and the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC) awarded a Woodland Army veteran with a $1,000 grant for her business, Tom Kat Acres.
Kat Clark received the grant which will support her organic market garden, stated a news release. Clark served in the Army for several years.
Tractor Supply partners with the FVC every year to assist farmer veterans from all branches of military service. In the past four years, Tractor Supply donated a total of $350,000 in gift cards and monetary funds, which assisted more than 260 farmer veterans, stated the release.
“The freedoms we enjoy in America have been made possible by our active military, veterans and their families. We are honored to thank them for their sacrifice by contributing to causes that support the military community,” said Colin Yankee, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer at Tractor Supply and a former U.S. Army Captain. “It’s a privilege to assist the Farmer Veteran Coalition, as they provide this resource to our nation’s heroes.”
The award is part of a nationwide campaign involving Tractor Supply which donates $100,000 to the FVC, which then awards $1,000 gift cards to 50 military veterans nationwide to support their agriculture businesses. The campaign also includes $50,000 from the Tractor Supply Company Foundation to support additional programming and grants.
The release stated this year’s 50 gift card recipients were chosen based on the need to support their agriculture projects and businesses and represented four branches of the military across 32 states.
The additional $50,000 donation from the Tractor Supply Company Foundation will also provide grants to seven farmer veterans and support FVC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to support their journey toward racial equity in agriculture, stated the release.
The FVC is a national nonprofit organization that assists active duty and veteran members of the Armed Forces who are on a career path in agriculture by providing them with education, resources and small grants to launch their own farming operation or secure employment in farming.
Tractor Supply also supports military members with year-round programs like Dogs on Deployment and by offering military discounts on certain holidays like the Fourth of July and Veterans Day, the release stated.
