Agricultural Education
5 Acres Of Impact
In early days of 2022, a conversation took place with our local County Commissioner Jack Wilson about the ever-growing local community needs. As we walked and talked around the RBCC's campus we discussed 4.66 acres of unused land surrounding our current community center.
April 2022, we stood before commissioner's court requesting a 99-year lease at $1.00 for every year totaling $99.00. The request was approved unanimously and our journey for growth, opportunity, and more impact began.
Plans have been drawn and approved for the new building structure. This will become "The Douglas Long Outreach Center" with "Paula's Pantry" included within the building. We have removed the chain-link fence that surrounded the baseball field. This was done in order to make way for the grounds work that has to be done in order for our vision to come to life. Work has been done to level the 5 acres and make it possible for a building to be built. An application for an ag well has been submitted in order to meet our goal of educating our community about stability.
In May of 2024 a concrete pad was poured. Since then our building has been framed, a roof added, doors and windows added, and we were able to share our progress with the community. We have now also added a well house and been gifted a golf-cart for daily chicken tendering on the land.
Farming Efforts
We now are focusing our efforts on agricultural education. This is one program that will aid our community in food insecurity. We have started with having operational chicken coops which house 15-25 chickens producing 18 eggs/day. This programs allows for our afterschool programs to learn where there food is coming from, and allows them to practice teamwork and communication. This is one of our first steps in building a garden where we will be able to provide fresh produce for our community and all of Hood County.