CENTRAL OHIO BEEKEEPERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
Said organization is organized exclusively for charitable, educational, or scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code. The object of this Foundation shall be to provide a variety of supportive, educational programming for the interests and well-being of beekeepers and the general public, through charitable giving.
About This Cause
Veterans’ Beekeeping School (VBS) is a two-year program created by Central Ohio Beekeepers Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3). The Foundation is an all-volunteer organization whose mission is to provide supportive, educational programming for the interests and well-being of beekeepers and the general public. OUR GOAL The goal of VBS is to educate veterans to become successful beekeepers as they are integrated into the local beekeeping community of veterans and civilians. This goal is met by providing veterans with formal and informal educational experiences as they learn alongside established beekeepers many of whom have already successfully gone through the VBS program. Our core value is to engage veterans in beekeeping as the context for developing a veteran-centered community, situated within the larger beekeeping community. Within this community, veterans may find healing opportunities for some of their psychosocial health effects from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). TBI and PTSD are deeply interconnected and disproportionately affect veterans; 67% of veterans have experienced at least one TBI and 67% of veterans endure PTSD. TBI can profoundly affect a person's ability to engage in social situations. With support from community-based beekeeping, individuals can improve social functioning. OUR POPULATION Ohio has the 6th largest veteran population in the U.S. VBS is the only completely face-to-face program in Ohio, and to our knowledge, in the U.S. According to Sachdev & Dixit (2023), “Mental health interventions should be culturally informed to enable veterans to work through the conflicts of culturally intersecting identities.” VBS builds on the shared value of community across veterans and beekeepers, to create a meaningful new culture of veteran-beekeepers. VBS enhances: sense of purpose by providing paths to achieve personal goals; family relationships; and leadership opportunities. VBS set a cohort size of 20, deeming that was our capacity to recruit, fund, and mentor. We limit the geographic area to a 13-county Central Ohio region, calculating driving time to be within one hour. In 2023 & 2024, VBS got 28 applications for 20 spots; by 2025 that number was 52. Cohort members are from 14 counties. Cohort members served in the Army, Navy, Marines, and Reserves. Ages range from late 20s through 80s but are mostly in their 30s and 40s. VBS builds a sense of purpose by encouraging veterans to meet personal goals of homesteading, farming, gardening, leadership, small business, through beekeeping. VBS encourages family involvement in beekeeping. Cohort members bring children, spouses, partners, and friends to sessions. Families work together on tending bees, harvesting & selling honey, and developing their property toward sustainability. OUR RESULTS TO DATE We are in Year Three of operations. Cohort 1 began formal instruction in Spring 2023, attended bee yard sessions through 2023, and received hives and equipment either in Fall 2023 or Spring 2024, followed by mentoring. Cohort 2, accepted in January 2023, is in the second year of their program. Half of them received hives in Fall 2024 and the remainder will get them in April 2025. Cohort 3 has just begun its formal classes and will follow the same path of formal/informal experiential learning and mentoring. Outcomes: Retention among Cohorts 1 and 2 were 85% and 82%, resp. These vets continue to participate in outreach events, beyond requirements and have been mentoring Cohort 3 this Spring. A survey was given to Cohort 2 in Spring & Fall 2024. Results showed significant improvement in sense of purpose, social connectedness, and well-being. Open-ended comments on benefits from VBS include: "Sense of community with fellow veterans has helped overall health and well being". "I feel a sense of community around other vets in program and beekeepers. The program provides vets with a place to gather with a common purpose. " "...I have a sense of purpose. I know the importance of our work and I'm proud to be a part of it" Successes: Sixteen vets from Cohorts 1 and 2 make up the VBS Advisory Council (53% of all members) and are now exercising leadership in recruiting and selecting new VBS members, as well as revising program guidelines. One member of Cohort 1 has recently taken leadership of the First Year Bee Yard, in addition to his success in implementing a bee school in his community and expanding his truck garden. Two members of Cohort 2 have initiated an apiary at their campus by eliciting support from various faculty and administrative campus bodies. VBS program has multiple community partners and is getting more broadly supported among the veteran community in Central Ohio, esp. among Veteran Service Organizations. FUTURE PLANS An important design feature is for veterans to assume leadership of the program, with the Foundation only in an oversight role, within the next 5 years. Program directors believe in the importance of including veterans as collaborators in research and recovery, not just as subjects. This process began in 2024 with the Advisory Council, 16 members of Cohorts 1 and 2. They run the interview and selection process. Further, a member of Cohort 1 is leading the VBS research team. Two other members of Cohort 2 have recently established an apiary on their college campus prairie conservation site. A member of the most recent cohort, Cohort 3, has assumed role of FaceBook Administrator. Other leadership positions that will be filled in the next two years include: Cohort Team Leaders, Equipment Support Team, and Program Requirements Annual Review Team.