Twenty-eight years ago, George Victor (“Vic”) Ball, son of Ball Horticultural founder (and legend) George Jacob Ball, had a vision for a program to encourage such young talent and bring it on board. That’s when he and his wife, Margaret Ball, made a donation to AFE, establishing a fund to help promising students gain critical hands-on experience.
This year, that fund achieved an impressive milestone: since its founding in 1992, scholarship money awarded to students who take part in the Vic & Margaret Ball Intern Scholarship Program reached a total of $1 million (so far!).
“Both my grandparents were proponents of education,” noted Christopher Soper, Vic and Margaret’s grandson. “They recognized the value of it, and of higher education in particular. But my grandfather was also very committed to furthering the business community as well. He felt the horticulture business had given him a very fulfilling career. He met many different kinds of people, visited all sorts of interesting places, and helped grow beautiful flowers. So, I think the purpose of the program was to connect education with horticulture in the real world—to build a bridge between the two.”