To celebrate its chapter’s first National FFA Week, the Temecula St. Jeanne Catholic FFA of Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac Catholic High School in Temecula, Calif., hosted a local event that had a global impact likely to be remembered and appreciated for years to come.
According to Marlisa Nordstrom, the Temecula St. Jeanne Catholic FFA Chapter advisor and National Teacher Ambassador for FFA, members felt passionate about engaging in a service project and wanted to do something that would benefit another St. Jeanne Catholic School. Members discovered they had a sister school in Central Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo, and after learning how much the Congolese depended on goats for adequate nutrition, they decided to organize an event raising funds to purchase goats for their peers across the globe.
The event took place on Feb. 23, 2019, and drew about 120 people. It featured a goat cheese discussion and tasting led by a local chef along with bread from an artisan baker, treats created by a specialty dessert chef and a wine tasting.
The Temecula St. Jeanne Catholic FFA raised $2,000 from ticket sales, which was donated to its sister school and was used to purchase 50 goats.
“Our FFA program is brand-new – it just started in 2018 – so this event was a great opportunity to share our mission with members of the community while raising money so we could help others,” Nordstrom says. “As a Catholic school, one of the pillars of our faith is service, so celebrating National FFA Week with a service project made perfect sense to our chapter. We plan to do something similar every year from now on.”
