At RSVP’s January Veteran’s Café, Retired Colonel Gary LaGrange and Farm Coordinator, Tim Heiman presented the program about the S.A.V.E. Farm which is being established in Riley, Kansas.
SAVE stands for Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education Farm. The Plan is to provide occupational agricultural training to veterans and transitioning servicemembers. There are four pillars in their farm model: Transition, Training, Therapy and Succession. The teaching farm will be specially designed to help those with disabilities work with equipment and animals. The farm will train 100 veterans and service members through an entire farm cycle. It is a model for all land grant universities.
The farm will also include a healing center on site or adjacent to it focusing on service members and veterans in need of special treatment and therapy. Because those participating in the program will be housed on the farm, having this facility close by will be necessary.
For more information about the SAVE Farm, contact Gary LaGrange at
785-537-7493 If you have farm equipment that you would like to donate to the Farm, you can go online to http://www.thesavefarm.org/needs for a list of what is needed.
