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Washington County Master Gardeners Give Back

The Virginia Master Gardeners of Washington County believe in education. As volunteer educators, they spend most of their time teaching the public about environmentally sound horticultural practices. Recently, they established a new way to support education for years to come: the Washington County Master Gardener Association Scholarship.

The scholarship, funded from a $50,000 endowment, will be given annually to a Virginia Tech student from Washington County or the surrounding area. “We wanted to do something lasting that would reinforce our commitment to education,” says Linda Tiller, Washington County Master Gardeners’ president. “These funds were raised in our area, and the scholarship gives us a way to help students from here who may not have other opportunities to attend college.”

The funds were accumulated from a successful annual garden fair that takes countless hours for approximately 100 master gardeners to pull together every April. The scholarship idea came together after about four years of planning and discussions with Margie Munsey, chairman of the fair.

According to Phil Blevins, Extension agent, agriculture and natural resources, the garden fair is completely volunteer-led and gives a huge boost to Extension’s educational efforts and visibility in the area. “I’m really impressed by what they’ve done with the fair, and I’m glad to see that they are using the proceeds for a long-term investment back into the community,” Blevins says.

For more information about the scholarship or on how you can contribute to any Virginia Cooperative Extension program, contact Vernon Meacham, director of development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 216D Hutcheson Hall (0402), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, (540) 231-3071 or vmeacham@vt.edu.

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