In the distance is a cornfield that separates the home of Monroe farmer Michael Majors from his old, beloved Monroe High School.
But this summer, Majors and his brothers found a novel way to turn some of their farm’s corn crop into a bridge of generosity, closing that gap and helping the football program he once attended.
The family farm company set five acres of sweet corn for sale, with proceeds going to local schools.
A roadside sale of their harvest in late summer raised $20,000 for Monroe schools and the community’s youth football, cheerleading and high school football programs.
Majors, a former Monroe High School football star who played linebacker on the 2006 Hornets team that reached the state semifinals, is pleased with his first attempt and plans to dedicate more corn acreage to the cause next year.
“The Monroe football program has been a big part of our family,” Majors said. “So we decided to start giving back to the school community.”
“We wanted to be good neighbors and continue to be good neighbors in the community,” he said, taking a break from his day at an upscale farm off Ohio 63 in Monroe, about a quarter-mile from the school system’s 4th grade central campus. -12.
“And we had a really good outing with the community and everybody came,” he said from a roadside sweet corn stand.
“We had several days where we sold out of corn and had to go back and pick more.”
Monroe High School football coach Bob Mullins said he and other supporters of the schools are grateful for the unique — and literally raised — financial harvest the Majors family shared.
“The Majors farm has been a staple of the Monroe community and all of the Majors kids have gone through Monroe (schools) and it has a long history. And it means a lot that Monroe High School raised these types of people and that they want to give back to our community in this way,” Mullins said.
The Majors “are homegrown and they’re Monroe people (with) a family business that wants to do something for kids and that’s really special.”
Monroe Superintendent Robert Buskirk echoed his coach, saying, “We are grateful for the support we have received from our local business partners and especially grateful for the contributions of the Majors family.”
“As Monroe alumni, they are always looking for ways to give back to the school community and continue to be strong supporters of our students and staff. We are very grateful for these donations to our high school and youth football programs and look forward to putting them to good use,” said Buskirk.
Michael Clark has covered North Cincinnati K-12 schools for more than two decades. Schools—whether public, private, or post-secondary—are often the center of communities. This is especially true in Ohio’s Butler and southern Warren counties, two of the state’s most populous and fastest-growing regions.
