Officials with the AKSARBEN Foundation have announced Ward Umbaugh, of Adair is one of 50 students from seven states (including 16 Iowa students) named as a 2016 winner of AKSARBEN AG Leaders Scholarship. Other scholarship winners from southwest Iowa include Heath Downing, from Creston, and Hayden VanMeter, from Red Oak.

Each scholarship awardee is a 4-H member who has exhibited at the AKSARBEN Stock Show and Rodeo in Omaha, and will receive $2,000 toward their education. They must be a high school senior and 4-H Exhibitor who has participated in the stock show for three or more years. The scholars also plan to attend a two or four year college or university and have expressed interest in pursuing a career related to agriculture or a non-agriculture career within a rural community .

Established in 1895, the AKSARBEN Foundation represents the premier employers in Nebraska and western Iowa.  The Foundation’s mission is to leverage collective business leadership to build a more prosperous Heartland by funding and guiding best practice, needs-based scholarship programs, awarding over $1 million annually; promoting the Heartland’s cultural heritage through top-ranking community celebrations, attended by over 100,000 annually; and honoring community leaders who carry on the Heartland’s tradition of philanthropy and volunteerism.