MACON -- Effingham County Farm Bureau (ECFB) received an award for its volunteer programs at the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) 7th District annual meeting held Sept. 16 in Statesboro. Stuart Exley is the ECFB president.

The ECFB Promotion & Education Committee, chaired by Exley, received the 7th District Outstanding Promotion & Education Award.

Among its activities during the past two years, the committee partnered with Live Oak Rincon Library to hold the Georgia Ag Experience Ag Day on June 25. The Georgia Ag Experience mobile classroom parked at the library, where students played the classroom’s interactive games that focus on agricultural careers and technology.

The mobile classroom, created by the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, is housed in a 36-foot trailer to give students and the public virtual experiences at a poultry house, cattle pasture, stand of timber, horticulture nursery, a produce stand full of fresh Georgia fruit, vegetables and pecans, cotton and peanut fields.

The Ag Day event also included a live petting zoo with animals from Honey Ridge Plantation, and a dozen agricultural organizations had exhibits. Approximately 340 people attended.

Over the past two years, ECFB has also donated books to libraries, promoted the GFB Certified Farm Market Passport program, and donated money to local 4-H and FFA chapters.

The GFB 7th District includes 17 counties in east and southeast Georgia.

Founded in 1937, Georgia Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general farm organization and has 158 county offices. Its volunteer members actively participate in local, state and national activities that promote agriculture awareness to their non-farming neighbors. GFB offers its members a wide variety of benefits, including insurance, but enrollment in member benefits is optional and not a requirement for membership.