The Ag One Foundation at California State University, Fresno will recognize its 25th Anniversary with a special celebration on Saturday, June 12.

The event will be held on the Fresno State campus, and will include a guided tour of the College Farm beginning at 4:30 p.m., followed by a reception and dinner at 6 p.m,

Exactly 25 years ago to the date of the event, alumni, friends and faculty of the then-School of Agriculture and Home Economics officially created the Ag One Foundation with the goal of raising $1 million to be used for scholarships and programs for the now-College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

Ed Rose, the first Ag One Foundation president, joined with Bill Jones, who went on to become Secretary of State, and others to create a board of directors to begin raising the funds.

“It’s fitting that we recognize the vision and accomplishments of the early leaders of Ag One, It’s an impressive story,” said Ag One President Liz Hudson,

Today, 25 years later, more than $3.6 million has been raised, placed in 80 different endowed funds with the Fresno State Foundation to provide support to students and programs. In fact, since 1979 more than $1.3 million has been awarded to more than 2,300 students. For the 2004-05 academic year alone, $200,000 will be provided to students and programs by Ag One.

Proceeds from the anniversary celebration will be used to create the Ag One —Founders Endowment Fund, which will be used to provide scholarships in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

Sponsorship opportunities are available for the event. The “Founders” level at $2,500 provides one table of 10 guests to the event; the “Shareholders” level of $1,000 provides four tickets to the event; and the “Partners” level at $500 provides two tickets to the event,

Sponsors for the event to-date include Ballentine Produce; Bank of America; John and Marlene Britton; Britz Fertilizers, Inc.; Senator Jim Costa (ret.); Jerry and Carol DiBuduo; Dritsas, Groom, McCormick & Swanton, LLP; Gabriel and Alcidia Gomes; Gulf Sierra Marketing, Inc.; Margaret and Rodger Jensen; Bill and Maurine Jones; Larry and Elise Layne; Fred and Maxine Machado; Richard and Julie Matoian; Ron Metzler; Myovich Trucking; Provost & Pritchard Engineering Group, Inc.; Pat and Vinci Ricchiuti; Pat and Frances Ricchiuti; Bud and Jan Richter; Ed and Katherine Rose; Tim Vaux and Kathy Frost Vaux; Vino Farms, Inc.; and Western Farm Service,

For sponsorship or ticket information, contact the Ag One Foundation office at (559) 278-4266.

EDITORS and NEWS/PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTORS: Press releases can be downloaded at www.fresnostatenews.com. University Relations also provides releases for news media companies via e-mail. To be added to the distribution list, send your e-mail address to tomu@csufresno.edu.