BUCKHANNON, W. Va.– West Virginia Wesleyan College has received a $1,000 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund to support its high tunnel. The funds will be used to install a sink and irrigation system.

“This will allow us to wash the produce before donating to local community organizations and have an automatic watering system,” senior Geneva Brown ‘23, of Chesapeake City, Maryland, said. “As a result of this grant, we will be able to finish installing the irrigation system and sink to be used to wash the produce we grow.”

Brown, who has been keeping the High Tunnel functioning by dedicating her summers and extra time during the semester to growing, watering, and harvesting produce dedicated her Gender Studies Capstone project to women and agriculture.

Her goal was to create programming and engagement featuring the High Tunnel that would guarantee its sustainability after her graduation in May. Programming during the fall semester included a guest lecture by Nicole Spencer, a Randolph County farmer who is the president of the Elkins Farmers Market, a work day in the High Tunnel, and a proposal to formally collaborate with Free Meals Appalachia. Applying for the Weyerhaeuser grant was part of this concentrated effort.

In both rural and urban settings, the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund supports hundreds of important organizations and programs in the communities where they operate with funding, time, expertise, and resources. Weyerhaeuser made its first charitable donation in 1903 and has provided more than $255 million in grants through its formal giving program, which was established in 1948.

More information on the Weyerhaeuser grant application process is available online at www.WY.com.