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Farm Bureau speaker highlights rural health, education and membership at Van Buren County court
Summary
Dr. Deb Grama told the Van Buren County Quorum Court that the Farm Bureau runs rural outreach programs including a MASH medical camp, a hunters‑feeding‑the‑hungry initiative and scholarship programs; she urged membership and provided brochures and handouts to the court.
Dr. Deb Grama, representing the local Farm Bureau, told the Van Buren County Quorum Court about several county-level programs intended to support rural health, infrastructure and youth career pipelines.
Grama said the Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization that develops policy at the local level and “takes those to the national board,” and described two programs active in the county: the MASH (medical applications for science and health) camp and an Arkansas hunters‑feeding‑the‑hungry food program. “The Farm Bureau is not just about farms,” she said, encouraging residents to participate in non‑agricultural programming.
The MASH program brings rural students to clinical settings to expose them to health care careers. Grama said the county hosted a mini‑MASH camp with Ozark Medical Center and Kayla Passmore, where four students shadowed hospital staff to learn about occupations such as physician assistant, physical therapy and occupational therapy.
She described the hunters‑feeding‑the‑hungry program as a way for hunters and ranchers to donate game or cattle to local food distribution; the Farm Bureau helps coordinate collection and distribution and the state will pick up donations when a critical mass is reached.
Grama also highlighted membership benefits and scholarship programs. She said local Farm Bureau membership is $40 per year for a family and that Farm Bureau scholarships statewide total about $160,000 annually for students entering health care and rural development fields. Grama noted member benefits such as travel discounts and retailer rebates and said the local Farm Bureau paid roughly $500 toward a local member’s vehicle purchase as an example of perks.
Materials and brochures were left with the court for members to review; Grama closed by inviting the court and staff to contact the Farm Bureau and by noting more programs could be presented at future meetings.
The presentation ran during the department‑head portion of the agenda and the court did not take any formal action on Farm Bureau requests during the meeting.
