Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education Corp
A Pathway to Farming
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education Corp. (SAVE) is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2015 and based in Riley, Kansas. The SAVE program consists of a five-month intensive training program with courses in animal husbandry, the raising of crops using sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices, sound agricultural business practices and beekeeping, among many others. The 309-acre SAVE Farm has a classroom on site, suitable for social distancing should another COVID outbreak occur. Students engage in classroom learning and then literally walk out of their classroom and put their knowledge to immediate use. SAVE is approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. SAVE has partnered with Konza Prairie Community Health Center to provide psychological services to any SAVE student who needs it. While SAVE is open to anyone who wishes to learn sustainable agricultural techniques, the primary emphasis of SAVE will always be to assist veterans, transitioning servicemembers, and their families.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Farm Tours
SAVE’s Farm Tour Program is designed to introduce participants (mostly veterans, servicemembers, and their families) to a variety of agricultural and ag support programs. The program’s intent is to immerse participants into as many programs as possible during the Tour season, find ag resources and support, explore network opportunities, learn about available funding/grants, learn about internship possibilities, and establish connections with similar producers in a participant’s home state. Tour goals include participant exposure to Ag producers who can articulate operations with details about production, costs, gains, timeframes, equipment requirements, lessons learned, and possible veteran mentoring/succession. The program is intended to aid participants in their farming/ranching journey.
Beekeeping
Beekeeping classes are taught to everybody wishing to learn, including servicemembers and veterans. Classroom and hands-on training brings all students through basic beekeeping, culminating in harvesting and bottling honey. Upon completion of training, students will be able to manage a honey producing operation as a hobbyist or as a commercial business. We have classes for the journeyman, apprentice, and master beekeeper, with plans of adding one for commercial beekeeper. All are welcome!
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Founded in 2015 as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, SAVE’s mission is to provide a pathway to agriculture for veterans, transitioning servicemembers and anyone else wishing a career in agriculture. While the program is open to all, SAVE specializes in providing agriculture training to veterans and servicemembers who are transitioning from military to civilian life. We offer a five-month training program with a variety of courses including agriculture business, animal science, agronomy (crops), and beekeeping, among many others. SAVE has partnered with Konza Prairie Community Health Center to provide services to our students dealing with PTSD. In addition, SAVE helps to place students in jobs on working farms and ranches, with the possibility of one day managing or owning that farm. SAVE is approved by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of multi-year grants received
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Military personnel, Veterans, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2021, SAVE received two multi-year grants from the USDA. SAVE received one 2018 multi-year grant. In 2017, SAVE received a multi-year grant. Both were from the USDA.
Average grant amount
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Military personnel, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The grants vary but they average out to approximately $210,277.99 per year. SAVE is open to everyone but their primary target populations are veterans, transitioning servicemembers and their families.
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Military personnel, Veterans, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The total amount of grants awarded is approximately $3.3 million.
Number of free participants on field trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Military personnel, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SAVE's Farm Tour program was put on hold from spring of 2020 thru 2021 due to COVID. 467 people participated in our Farm Tour program field trips in 2019. Numbers are not available prior to 2019.
Number of job skills training courses/workshops conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Military personnel, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Since 2015, SAVE has conducted approximately 145 workshops. The number of workshops that we conducted in 2020 and 2021 greatly decreased due to COVID but are ramping up again in 2022.
Number of individuals completing apprenticeship
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Military personnel, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We have a total of 3 students enrolled in our apprenticeship program at this time.
Number of individuals applying skills learned through the organization's training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Military personnel, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Over 500 individuals are applying skills learned from our programs. This includes our farming and beekeeping courses, our community workshops and our farm tour program.
Total number of acres of area indirectly controlled under cultivation
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Military personnel, Farmers
Related Program
The SAVE Farm: A Pathway to Farming
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We directly control 309 acres that are under cultivation.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The vision of SAVE is to provide regenerative and sustainable agricultural training to a significant number of veterans, service members, their family members, and the general public through our 309-acre training farm in Riley, Kansas. The SAVE vision is being realized today through three programs - beekeeping, farm tours, and agricultural courses. These courses, and apprenticeships, include classroom and hands-on teaching. Grants and generous donors enable SAVE to assist veterans and address the critical agricultural workforce shortfall.
The SAVE program includes cropland, livestock, orchards, horticulture, and apiaries. The teaching farm is specifically designed to help those with disabilities work with equipment and animals. Courses can be taken individually or as part of our five-month training program. SAVE is the only rural agricultural training program recognized by the Kansas Board of Regents.
This training and therapeutic farm will serve as a model for other cooperative partnerships among military installations, land grant universities, and departments of agriculture in other states. In time, SAVE is planning to place 100 trained veterans or transitioning service members in agribusiness positions each year.
Connecting transitioning servicemembers and veterans to agricultural careers has been the focus of other USDA grant opportunities in other regions in the United States. While other programs are available, or are under development in other regions, SAVE is the only program of its kind in Kansas.
The SAVE program offers a critical bridge from the security and comradery of the military to the serenity and immersion offered by farming, avoiding what can be a debilitating and often dangerous period following discharge. In addition, SAVE offers an opportunity for multiple agencies and organizations to coordinate for the betterment of our military veterans and transitioning servicemembers.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The concept of the SAVE program, and ultimately our long-term vision, was developed in direct response to a request from Fort Riley’s Warrior Transition Battalion’s occupational therapists. Members and therapists from the Battalion suggested beginning with a beekeeping training program. The objective was multi-fold. First, to assist those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and brain disorders with the therapeutic effects of the endeavor. Second, to measure the level of interest in the agricultural niche. And third, to determine whether the project could become a self-sustaining program. Most members of the SAVE board are military veterans – each of whom have played an integral part in the conceptual development and implementation of the SAVE mission.
SAVE’s Farm Tour Program is designed to introduce participants (mostly veterans, transitioning servicemembers, and their families) to a variety of agricultural and agricultural support programs. The program’s intent is to immerse participants in as many programs as possible during the Tour season. Participants will find agricultural resources and support, explore networking opportunities, learn about available funding/grants, learn about internship possibilities, and establish connections with similar producers in a participant’s home state. Tour goals also include exposing participants to agricultural producers who can articulate operations with details about production, costs, gains, time frames, equipment requirements, lessons learned, and possible veteran mentoring/succession. The program is intended to aid participants in their farming/ranching journey.
SAVE recognizes that many students are dealing with the visible and invisible wounds of war. SAVE has partnered with Konza Prairie Community Health Center to provide psychological services to any student who needs them. This includes access to telehealth services to help students meet with doctors, nurses and pharmacists during the unique circumstances dictated by COVID-19 and any COVID resurgence.
Through SAVE's partnership with Kansas AgrAbility, students dealing with physical injuries have access to equipment that enables them to farm and work with animals. SAVE is in constant contact with our partners to ensure that students have access to the latest technology and instructional services possible.
In 2021, SAVE received a multi-year Beginning Farmers and Ranchers grant offered by the United States Department of Agriculture. This grant will allow SAVE to reach more students and also add a Commercial Beekeeping certificate to our program. This certificate will be in addition to our current programs for Journeyman, Apprentice and Master Beekeeper. SAVE's board continues to meet with various experts to discuss ideas that can expand and continue to improve our program.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
SAVE provides a five-month training program with classroom and hands-on training for veterans, transitioning servicemembers, their families, and the general public who wish to have a career in agriculture. Students engage in a variety of courses including agriculture business, animal science, agronomy (crops), and beekeeping, among many others. Our agricultural courses are approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. Our beekeeping courses and conducted in conjunction with the University of Montana.
SAVE’s Farm Tour Program is designed to introduce participants (mostly veterans, servicemembers, and their families) to a variety of agricultural and agriculture support programs. The program’s intent is to immerse participants in as many programs as possible during the Tour season. Participants will find resources and support, explore network opportunities, learn about available funding/grants, learn about internship possibilities, and establish connections with similar producers. Tour goals include participant exposure to agriculture producers who can articulate operations with details about production, costs, gains, time frames, equipment requirements, lessons learned, and possible veteran mentoring/succession. The program is intended to aid participants in their farming/ranching journey.
SAVE’s Beekeeping classes are taught to anyone wishing to learn, with an emphasis on veterans and transitioning servicemembers. Classroom and hands-on instruction brings students through basic beekeeping, culminating in harvesting and bottling honey. Upon completion of training, students will be able to manage a honey producing operation as a hobbyist or as a commercial business. SAVE has classes for the journeyman, apprentice, master beekeeper and has recently added a commercial beekeeping curriculum to our program. If students desire, SAVE also offers a mentorship program up to two years after graduation.
SAVE has partnered with Konza Prairie Community Health Center to provide services to students in treating the invisible wounds of war. SAVE's partnership with Kansas AgrAbility ensures that SAVE students dealing with physical injuries have the equipment they need to be able to farm and ranch. SAVE also helps to place students in jobs on working farms and ranches, with the possibility of one day managing or owning that farm.
SAVE continues to enhance our programs and have partnered with leading organizations including the Veterans Administration, KONZA, Kansas AgrAbility, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Homegrown by Heroes, and The Bob Woodruff Foundation, among many others.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Among many of SAVE's recent accomplishments are:
1. SAVE has graduated 27 farmers and trained over 300 new Beekeepers.
2. Over 500 people have participated in our farm tours.
3. SAVE has finalized the purchase of our 309-acre training farm.
4. SAVE has added a classroom to the farm, suitable for social distancing if another COVID outbreak occurs.
5. SAVE students have learned how to raise and care for various types of livestock.
6. SAVE students have successfully raised and harvested many crops, including corn, sorghum, and alfalfa.
7. SAVE has fenced their property and updated their facilities.
8. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, SAVE's Farm Tour program is scheduled to resume later in 2022.
9. SAVE is increasing their development activities, including grant writing, and obtaining foundation donations.
10. SAVE continues to partner with leading educational institutions, private corporations, and foundations.
SAVE's future goals include:
1.Increasing the number of SAVE students.
2. Increasing the number, and amount, of the grants received.
3. Increasing the amount of corporate donations and sponsorships received.
4. Continuing to seek out and partner with world-class corporations and veteran programs.
5. Adding additional classroom, storage, and office space to the SAVE Farm property.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education Corp
Board of directorsas of 06/17/2022
Mr. Tod Bunting
Major General US Army (Retired) US Army
Eric Peck
Brigadier General, USANG, Retired
Lucinda Stuenkel
PhD
Ken Woods
Business Executive
Susan Metzger
MS Biological Sciences
Joel Anderson
Colonel USMC Retired
James P. (Pat) Murphy
Professor Emeritus, K-State
Tod M. Bunting
Major General Retired
Melissa Wahl
Farmer, Rancher
John Armbrust
Colonel, US Army Retired
Jennifer Graham
SAVE Graduate, Secretary
Tiffany Cutting
Accountant
Bruce McMillan
Architect
John Farley
Rancher
Ken Devan
Farmer, Army Colonel (Retired)
Robert Manes
Dir., The Nature Conservancy (Kansas)
Don Teske
Pres. Kansas Farmers Union
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No