Oklahoma Farm Bureau Interim Executive Director Thad Doye received the National Association of Agricultural Educators Outstanding Cooperation award at the NAAE annual convention in Nashville on December 8. This award recognizes both individuals and organizations who have given outstanding support to agricultural education programs.
Doye encourages Oklahoma FFA and 4-H members to donate their livestock to the state’s Pork for Packs and Beef for Backpacks programs. Donated animals are processed into protein sticks that food banks add to backpacks sent home with undernourished schoolchildren. In the past four years Doye, FFA and 4-H members together have impacted over two million students. This year alone, 540 animals were donated, producing 953,526 protein sticks
Doye serves as a liaison between students who are donating the livestock and the processing plants. He has driven thousands of miles over the past four years take animals to processing plants for FFA members, and sometimes houses animals in his own facilities until the processing plant is ready to accept the donation.
The Pork for Packs and Beef for Backpacks programs provide a valuable service learning project for student participants. Doye’s support allows undernourished schoolchildren in all 77 counties in Oklahoma to benefit from the programs.
Each of the six regional Outstanding Cooperation award winners were recognized for their contributions to agricultural education during the NAAE Convention in Nashville. Forrest T. Jones and Company sponsors the plaques for the NAAE Outstanding Cooperation award. NAAE is the professional association for agricultural educators. Its mission is “professionals providing agricultural education for the global community through visionary leadership, advocacy and service.” The NAAE office is located in Lexington, Kentucky.
For more information on the Beef for Backpacks and Pork for Packs programs, visit the Oklahoma Farming & Ranching Foundation’s website.
For more information on the National Association of Agricultural Educators, visit the convention news page of their website.
