The Great Allentown Fair Foundation has announced a partnership with Rodale Institute, Kutztown.

The foundation will provide assistance to certain applicants within Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties taking courses through Rodale Institute’s Virtual Campus, including Transition to Certified Organic Agriculture; Transition to Organic Livestock Production; Getting Your Organic Certification and Hobby Beekeeping, a news release states.

“We are thrilled to partner with Rodale Institute,” Bill Steele, chairman of the Community Outreach Committee of The Great Allentown Fair Foundation Inc., said. “It’s amazing how they consistently share their decades of expertise and knowledge.

“Now, with classes online, it makes agricultural education available to anyone and everyone.

“We wanted to incentivize interest from within our Lehigh Valley community to enable more access to Rodale’s wealth of resources because agriculture is not just important to our community, but also to our overall well-being.”

Jeff Tkach, CEO of Rodale Institute, also commented.

“Rodale Institute has been on the forefront of innovations in regenerative organic agriculture for decades,” Tkach said. “Thankfully, The Great Allentown Fair Foundation is removing a potential barrier to education by connecting those interested in agriculture with the Institute’s prestigious educational opportunities.

“There are great synergies between our organizations, and our entire community will benefit as a result.”

Applicants do not need to apply for the scholarships, as they will be chosen directly from Rodale Institute upon successful completion of one or more eligible courses.

Information about the eligible classes can be found at Rodale Institute’s Virtual Campus: courses.rodaleinstitute.org.

For additional information about The Great Allentown Fair Foundation, visit AllentownFairFoundation.org.

For additional information about Rodale Institute, visit RodaleInstitute.org.