Farm Credit East donates more than $11,000 to local groups

Farm Credit East, a financial cooperative serving the agricultural community, has donated $11,250 to several local charities across Long Island’s East End.

A portion of this donation went to the Lyle Wells Passion for Agriculture Fund, a scholarship fund established in 2018 in memory of 11th generation Riverhead farmer Lyle Wells, who was a former board member of one of Farm Credit East’s predecessor organizations. 

Funds were also contributed to Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck, Riverhead Rotary, Cornell University and North Shore Youth Council, according to Farm Credit East. 

The donated funds were raised as part of a virtual customer appreciation meeting held in November, in which Farm Credit East donated $25 on behalf of each attendee. The attendees’ local branch office then selected the charities to receive the funds, according to a press release from Farm Credit East.

In addition, due to the high number of attendees from the Riverhead office, that branch office received an additional $10,000 to contribute to its local community, according to Farm Credit East. 

“We’re pleased that many of our customers were able to join us virtually for this year’s meeting, enabling us to contribute to various efforts that support our community,” said Pat Wiles, branch manager of Farm Credit East’s Riverhead office, in a release. “We hope these donations help the recipient organizations continue to serve local communities during the holiday season.”

In conjunction with its virtual customer meeting, Farm Credit East’s 20 branch offices donated a total of $45,500 to 38 organizations throughout the Northeast. Recipient organizations included food banks and pantries, community and health support organizations, youth programs, and various other charitable efforts.

Farm Credit East is a member-owned cooperative that extends more than $8 billion in loans and has 20 local offices in its seven-state service area, including a branch in Riverhead. 

In addition to loans and leases, the organization also offers a full range of specialized financial services, such as tax preparation, payroll, record keeping, appraisal, and consulting for farming, forest products and commercial fishing businesses. 

Farm Credit East is governed by a 15-person board of directors, comprised of 13 customer-elected, one customer appointed and one outside appointed directors.