BUCKHANNON, W. Va.– West Virginia Wesleyan College has received a $1,000 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund to support its high tunnel. The funds will be used to install a sink and irrigation system.

“This will allow us to wash the produce before donating to local community organizations and have an automatic watering system,” senior Geneva Brown ‘23, of Chesapeake City, Maryland, said. “As a result of this grant, we will be able to finish installing the irrigation system and sink to be used to wash the produce we grow.”

Brown, who has been keeping the High Tunnel functioning by dedicating her summers and extra time during the semester to growing, watering, and harvesting produce dedicated her Gender Studies Capstone project to women and agriculture.

Her goal was to create programming and engagement featuring the High Tunnel that would guarantee its sustainability after her graduation in May. Programming during the fall semester included a guest lecture by Nicole Spencer, a Randolph County farmer who is the president of the Elkins Farmers Market, a work day in the High Tunnel, and a proposal to formally collaborate with Free Meals Appalachia. Applying for the Weyerhaeuser grant was part of this concentrated effort.

In both rural and urban settings, the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund supports hundreds of important organizations and programs in the communities where they operate with funding, time, expertise, and resources. Weyerhaeuser made its first charitable donation in 1903 and has provided more than $255 million in grants through its formal giving program, which was established in 1948.

More information on the Weyerhaeuser grant application process is available online at www.WY.com

About West Virginia Wesleyan College’s High Tunnel

The High Tunnel grows produce to be donated to Free Meals Appalachia and The Parish House. The facility has been there for six years, since 2017. It has empowered Wesleyan students to not only give back to the community with crops that they have grown but has given the students a sense of responsibility for a facility on campus that contributes to food sustainability in the larger Buckhannon community. With its home in The Center for Community Engagement & Leadership Development, the High Tunnel plans to do more projects like this to be able to contribute to the community in which the Center and the College are embedded.

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC) is a private, four-year residential liberal arts college in Buckhannon, West Virginia. A tradition of excellence for more than 130 years, West Virginia Wesleyan is home to 14 Fulbright Scholars. The Princeton Review ranked Wesleyan one of its 2023 Best Colleges in the Southeastern Region of the United States. U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 Best College Rankings designated Wesleyan seventh in Best Value – Regional Universities (South). WVWC offers students more than 40 majors and 40 minors; graduate programs in athletic training, business administration, creative writing, and nursing; 22 NCAA Division II athletic programs; multiple performing arts groups; and more than 70 organizations. Founded in 1890, the College is closely affiliated with the United Methodist Church and abides by the Wesley doctrine that emphasizes service to others. For more information, visit wvwc.edu.

About Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. We own or control approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manage additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. We manage these timberlands on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards. We are also one of the largest manufacturers of wood products in America. Our company is a real estate investment trust. In 2021, we generated $10.2 billion in net sales and employed approximately 9,400 people who serve customers worldwide. Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WY. Learn more at www.weyerhaeuser.com.