EDDYVILLE ELEMENTARY STUDENTS RECEIVE INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE FROM CARGILL

Cargill

Just How Big Can You Dream?

EDDYVILLE, IA — March 8 marks International Women’s Day, a day recognized globally to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present, and future. Last year on this day, Cargill-Eddyville created an event titled Day of Inspiration – an event that served to focus on retention of women in operations. The purpose was to establish network connections and enable interface with successful female role models.

When planning began for this year’s Day of Inspiration, participants rallied to share their personal inspiration and impact with others in the community. Event organizers worked with Eddyville Elementary School Principal Chris Fenster to craft an inspirational reading experience with all Pre-K through 6th grade students. Successful female leaders read a storybook about dreaming big and then shared their message of achieving their own success and some of the challenges they faced along the way. Attention was then turned to asking students about their dreams and encouraging them to make those dreams their reality.

Visitors to the school included Iowa’s 2012 Business Woman of Influence, Rosemary Parson, as well as representatives of Cargill’s 8 Corn Milling locations and 2 other Cargill manufacturing locations (Wapello Pork in Ottumwa and Cargill Beef in Ft. Morgan, Colorado).

Eddyville Facility Manager (and creator of this event), Kaye (Jager) DeLange knows first-hand about dreaming big and being successful. Kaye was raised on a family farm just east of Eddyville and was educated in the Eddyville school system. Upon completion of her college degrees, Kaye chose to return to her community to begin her career working for a company whose mission is to nourish people around the world. Kaye never stopped dreaming and now manages the entire Eddyville facility — Cargill’s second largest capital investment in the world. When asked why hosting this event is so important to her, Kaye emphatically suggests: “It is important that we inspire ourselves and children to dream big and never let anyone or anything get in the way of achieving those dreams. There are so many opportunities to make a difference in our world . . . it all starts with a dream!”