2003 Rural Impact Awards
The Florida, Illinois, Oregon, and Utah State Rural Development Councils (SRDCs) received Rural Impact Awards during the National Rural Development Partnership's 2003 Leadership Conference on June 3. Each of the winners was recognized for specific work that is significantly improving the quality of life in rural America.
Florida State Rural Development Council
Florida State Rural Development Council (FSRDC) and the Florida Neighborhood Nutrition Network (NNN) have taken the fight against hunger to a new level by coordinating a community-wide gleaning program for at-risk community residents. Gleaning is the process of harvesting fruits and vegetables that are either non cost-effective or missed by mechanical harvesters. These “leftovers” result in nearly 60 million tons of produce wasted in the U.S. per year, translating into enough food to feed 40 million people a day. FSRDC and NNN hired and trained six community youths to work on the project, which included coordinating efforts to get more fresh food to local food distribution centers, school children, and community residents; developing inexpensive, nourishing, and tasty recipes for the gleaned produce; and, offering cooking and nutrition classes at several distribution sites and local schools.
To date, more than 35,000 pounds of otherwise wasted produce has been harvested, and NNN was selected as one of 15 programs in the United States to receive three-year funding to coordinate a community food project as part of the USDA Community Food Security Initiative. For their work in addressing the critical problem of hunger, FSRDC and their partners won the 2003 Rural Impact Award.
Rural Partners (IL)
In 2002, Rural Partners, the Illinois State Rural Development Council, and local leaders saved a small rural hospital from closing. Franklin Hospital in Benton, IL, a rural hospital with a high incidence of Medicare and Medicaid patients, was losing money. After a purchase deal failed, the hospital was notified it would have to close its doors.
Through the discussions of several Rural Partners' members and local officials—including the Mayor of Benton, City and County officials, and officials of neighboring West Frankfort and others—the idea of Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation was broached. The partners worked to ensure the hospital could qualify and receive funding for CAH status. Gap funding was needed and Rural Partners linked the project with financial resources and helped secure funding. The hospital received CAH designation, located and hired an administrator, and continues to operate in its modified form.
Today Franklin Hospital is open and providing emergency room and hospital services to the county as well as creating revenue and jobs. Through collaboration and hard work, Franklin County has achieved real success. For their efforts to keep Franklin Hospital open, Franklin County and local community leaders and Rural Partners won the 2003 Rural Impact Award.
Oregon Rural Development Council
Oregon Rural Development Council's (ORDC) January 2000 Community Forum, held in Sherman County, addressed the community's concerns about possible restrictions on wind energy production on family farms, due to noise regulations. This barrier prohibited local farmers from utilizing opportunities to become wind energy producers. ORDC members pursued and sought a resolution for the noise regulation constraint. Due to the Council's actions, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality addressed Noise Regulations for Noise Sensitive Areas and Wind Power Projects. As a result, the noise sensitive areas were redefined and the road was cleared for Oregon farmers to utilize wind energy for expanding energy markets. ORDC was awarded the 2003 Rural Impact Award for their work to remove government restrictions for wind power on farms.
Utah Rural Development Council
The Utah Rural Development Council (URDC), working in conjunction with several corporations, state forestry organizations, local governments, universities, and economic development partners, purchased a small diameter timber portable logging mill in November 2001. Through this enormously collaborative effort, the partners were able to save the larger mill in the community, saving 100 jobs and to helping manage the threat of catastrophic forest fires.
The URDC bought the small diameter mill with a grant through the state office of forestry then sold the mill to Skyline Forest Resources with a long term note and then worked to ensure Skyline felt secure to keep the large mill open. The small diameter mill allowed Skyline to deal with the problem of an increased smaller diameter log size in their log supply.
By purchasing the mill, URDC and its partners provided the community a means of removing small diameter timber (a large cause of forest fires) and milling it on-site. This is a cost-effective alternative to removing and shipping this material, allowing the large mill to remain open and providing 100 jobs in the community. Without this purchase these jobs would have been lost due to the closing of this mill, which has suffered from a lack of large timber, the state of the global economy, and the inefficiencies of its operation. URDC and its partners were awarded the 2003 Rural Impact Award for their hard work in saving jobs and preventing forest fires.
