MEDIA CONTACT:
Liam Migdail, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
717-724-9425 | Email
For Immediate Release: June 15, 2021
Pennsylvania Farmer and Pro Golfer Joins In Support
(Hershey) – Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) has raised more than $1 million for programs to help the public better understand the story behind our food, fuel and fiber throughout the 29-year history of its annual Richard Prether Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Golf Classic.
This year’s event—held Monday, June 14 at Hershey Country Club—brought in more than $46,300 for the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation, raising the tournament’s cumulative support of agriculture literacy efforts to just more than $1 million. This year, 110 golfers participated to support the foundation, a charitable organization affiliated with PFB.
For the second year in a row, golfers were joined by Rachel Rohanna, a Pennsylvania farmer and LPGA pro golfer, who challenged attendees to a “Beat the Pro” contest fundraiser. Rohanna, a Symetra Tour member and the 2017 Symetra Tour champion, operates a beef farm with her family in Greene County.
The foundation works to increase the public’s understanding of agriculture and the critical role it plays in our daily lives. This is done through programs such as six Mobile Agriculture Education Science Labs and Ag on the Go, which bring hands-on agriculture science lessons directly to schools; Ag Literacy Week, which sends farmers into classrooms across the state to teach students about agriculture; and Educator’s Ag Institute, a weeklong summer program that helps teachers incorporate lessons about agriculture into their curriculum.
“We all eat, and that’s why Pennsylvania farmers believe it’s so critical that the public has an accurate understanding of agriculture and the role it plays in our daily lives,” said PFB President Rick Ebert, who also serves as the foundation’s chairman. “The more than $1 million raised throughout the history of this tournament has helped the foundation accomplish that through its important mission: ‘Planting seeds. Cultivating knowledge. Harvesting an understanding of agriculture.’ Thank you to all the sponsors and golfers who support the foundation’s mission.”
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Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation board members and leadership staff pose with a symbolic check along with Rachel Rohanna, an LPGA golfer and Greene County beeffarmer, who participated in a “Beat the Pro” competition. Left to right are: David Graybill, Juniata County farmer and foundation board member; PFB President Rick Ebert, foundation chairman and Westmoreland County farmer; John Painter, II, Tioga County farmer and foundation board member, Charlene Shupp Espenshade, foundation executive director; Michael Stolitca, PFB chief administrative officer; Rohanna; and PFB Vice President Chris Hoffman, foundation vice chairman.
Bradford County farmer Rob Miller follows through on a putt. Behind him is Tioga County farmer John Painter, II, a foundation board member.
Rachel Rohanna, a Greene County beef farmer and LPGA golfer, follows through on her swing during the 29th Annual Richard Prether Friends of Agriculture Golf Classic. Rohanna challenged participants to a “Beat the Pro” contest to raise money for agriculture education.