The FFA held a plant sale Saturday, May 10, in the high school parking lot. In total, the plant sale brought in $11,183.91, which equivalated to 2,056 items sold. This was FFA’s second plant sale, and it exceeded expectations.
“$11,000 was actually our goal in two years, so this was a surprise to us that we made it to it this year. It was very successful, and I’m very happy about that,” junior Blake Mertens said.
The plants came from the Jolly Farmer as plugs, and then the FFA repotted and grew them for the sale. The FFA members also worked the sale, completing transactions, helping customers find the plants they were looking for, and helping to carry when needed.
“It was a lot of work. We put everything together and put it all into a point of sale. Then we organized it with our FFA teacher and ran it through the FFA,” Mertens said.
The work paid off, though, and the efficiency was noticed by the customers, including math teacher Shawn Erb, who bought hanging baskets and a flat worth of plantable flowers.
“It was very well organized. I think this year was even better than last year with the organization,” Erb said.
There are many plant sales one could go to in the area, but the FFA sale enticed many people for multiple reasons.
“I like to support the school, and the plants were gorgeous,” special education teacher Amy Slonecker, who bought petunias, said.
The profits from the plant sale will go on to fund future FFA activities, creating new opportunities for FFA members to expand their education.
“The plant sale creates money for future opportunities for kids in FFA, and we hope that we can make more opportunities for them,” Mertens said.
Fundraisers like these are vital to keep clubs active, and the plant sale will continue to help the FFA more and more each year.
“I’m going to say that there’s always a place to grow. I think we’re going to continue to make more money every year, and that money can go towards different events that our FFA will put on for our school,” Mertens said. “This sale was definitely our most successful one.”
