Recipients of the 2021 Junior Merit Award are (from left) Noah Benedict of Dewey, Illinois; Kolbi Franklin of Meeker and Molly Biggs of Dixon, Illinois.
RBC | Outstanding Hereford youth were awarded numerous scholarships during the 2021 VitaFerm®Junior National Hereford Expo (JNHE) Hereford Spectacular Awards Ceremony in Kansas City, Mo., July 8. The Hereford Youth Foundation of America and the National Hereford Women awarded $28,000 alone at this year’s JNHE, and will award a total of $200,000 in 2021 to deserving junior members to aid in their academic endeavors.
The National Junior Merit Scholarship is one of the most prestigious awards given at the JNHE. It was developed to encourage individual and cooperative effort, enthusiasm, leadership and achievement among youth and to develop good breeders for the Hereford breed and the beef industry. Each year three scholarships are awarded totaling $4,500 with the first place award receiving a subsidized trip to a Hereford operation in the continental U.S. in addition to a $2,000 scholarship.
The following are the 2021 Junior Merit Scholarship Award winners.
1st – Molly Biggs, Dixon, Illinois, $2,000
2nd – Kolbi Franklin, Meeker, Colorado, $1,500
3rd – Noah Benedict, Dewey, Illinois, $1,000
Kolbi is a Meeker High School graduate and a freshman at Oklahoma State University majoring in agribusiness and is considering adding a double major in agricultural communications. Coming from Colorado she continues to grow her desire of advocating for the beef industry where she can use her marketing skills to inform others on the importance of meat.
The Hereford Youth Foundation of America (HYFA) was established in 1986 and is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated exclusively to scholarship and educational support of youth in the business of raising Hereford cattle. The mission of the Hereford Youth Foundation of America is to encourage, recognize and reward the development of life skills and values in the next generation of leaders by providing education, scholarship and leadership opportunities for Hereford Youth.
Special to the Herald Times
