BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Twenty-five Illinois FFA members will be able to forego the expense of a new blue jacket by applying for a special GROWMARK grant prior to Sept. 11. FFA members are asked to answer the question “what does the FFA jacket mean to you?” and share their top goals for their FFA journey in essay form.

The story behind the jacket grant program, which began in 2019 and is set to end next year, is both tragic and inspiring. In April 2019, GROWMARK vice president and long-time employee Mike Builta passed away unexpectedly. The program, established by the GROWMARK Foundation, honors the memory of Builta, who was active in his school’s FFA while growing up on his family’s farm near Bellflower, Ill. 

“Mike’s wife and children wanted to do something to remember him, and since Mike was a member and supporter of FFA we decided one of the things we would do would be to provide FFA jackets to Illinois members,” said Karen Jones, youth and young producer specialist at GROWMARK, which is headquartered in Bloomington, Ill. “With some of the memorial funds that came in after Mike’s passing, we are purchasing 100 jackets, spilt up over four years to have a longer impact. In addition, funding was directed to the University of Illinois for students attending the annual Ag Future of America Conference in Builta’s name.”

“Though I didn’t work directly with Mike, he was known as a wonderful guy who really cared about people, more so than people might think of a man in his position. 

GROWMARK’s FFA jacket essay contest has received around 75 to 100 entries during each of the first two years of the program. Students are eligible to apply during multiple years. Many of the essays submitted by FFA youth who were awarded jackets (along with scarves or ties) offered very personal reasons why the blue jacket means so much to them.

“Growing up seeing my Dad’s jacket I dreamed of having my own jacket. The honor it would bring to carry on a tradition wearing blue. My grandfather never could afford a jacket, but my Dad’s jacket represents sacrifice because my grandfather, a poor farmer, made sure three of his sons had their own despite extremely tight finances,” wrote Ethan Weidner, Teutopolis FFA.

“With this FFA jacket I have an increased accountability to spread the FFA’s message of promoting agricultural awareness, because I am a woman of minority in the agriculture field and in wearing this FFA jacket I would be accountable in encouraging more women of minority to get involved in agriculture awareness,” said Banan Garada, Urbana FFA.

“Nobody in my family has ever been a part of FFA, so it’s kind of exciting to be the first to do something like this,” explained Danielle Giacinto, Streator FFA

The GROWMARK Foundation was established in 2005 with the goal of providing grants to students and nonprofits. The Foundation generally gives out over $900,000 each year in the areas of youth, education, agriculture and charity. 

The application is available at https://bit.ly/BuiltaJacket2021.