Ashley Lyon, Norborne, Mo., won the statewide public speaking contest sponsored by the Missouri Institute of Cooperatives. Here is her winning speech.

Imagine... It's 1621 and you are a pilgrim in Plymouth, Mass. You are about to sit down to the first Thanksgiving and break bread with the Indians. The meal you are about to consume is composed of the crops you have worked side by side in harvesting with the Indians. What has made this day possible? It was the joint efforts of the pilgrims working together with the Indians to raise and harvest these crops. This is, perhaps, one of the earliest examples of a cooperative. What would have happened if this cooperation had not existed? What differences would there be in our lives today?

In agricultural areas, such as where I live, people today rely heavily on cooperatives for necessities, such as electricity and insurance. In rural America alone there are nearly 1,000 electric cooperatives, which operate over half of the electrical lines in America, providing electricity to more than 25 million people in 46 different states. Another important cooperative is the Farm Credit System. As the nation's oldest and largest financial cooperative, it provides many types of loans and insurance to over 500,000 cooperative members. What would happen to our agriculture industry if we did not have such strong financial cooperatives? Would we have an agriculture industry? How would farmers get the loans they need to buy tractors, combines and other farm equipment?

Cooperatives help farmers market their products while also providing services to them. But just as they remain a major component of the food and agriculture industry, they now are available to help people provide services for themselves in virtually all segments of the economy. Besides farmers' cooperatives and financial cooperatives, there are also consumer service and business cooperatives. Cooperatives not only make a difference in agriculture, but in our entire economy.

Cooperatives face never-ending challenges in today's business environment. One is the understanding and commitment of a constantly changing generation of cooperators. The task of remaining true to the basic beliefs of cooperation, and to its original principles on which businesses are founded, is ongoing. Cooperation is not a tired, old-fashioned concept, but rather, a vital and value-added method of business.

We have begun, in this period of our lives, to see a new generation of cooperatives in the health care industry as well as housing. These new cooperatives have rekindled a fire under the cooperative movement. The idea on which the original cooperatives were founded--of working together for the betterment of all--has never gone out of style. Their success is founded on business decisions made based on the needs of the member/owners, not bottom line alone.

The commitment that begins with a locally elected board of directors is the beginning to a successful cooperative. These member/owners are not only working for the success of the cooperative, but are also responsible for doing what is in the best interest of their friends and neighbors. They understand and respect the principles and values that cooperatives are founded upon. Two well-known cooperatives in my area are the Ray-Carroll Cooperative and MFA Incorporated.

Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers, Inc. was created in 1932. It provides many valuable services, as well as being the bulk handler of agricultural products in my region. MFA Incorporated, which was established in 1914, serves more than 45,000 farmer/owners in Missouri and adjacent states. They too provide farm services and are a farmer's vertical integration into the farm supply and grain businesses.

Change in any aspect of our lives, either professional or personal, can be overwhelming without a set of guidelines that do not change with circumstances. Cooperatives are founded on these guidelines, or certain basic principles and values. They are what make cooperatives distinctly different from other businesses. These principles and values, such as cash trading, membership education and net margins distributed according to patronage, withstand the test of time. They remain the foundation that supports the distinctive cooperative method of doing business.

The ability to stand behind the decisions made based on the cooperative's founding principles is not always an easy task. It results from obligation and responsibility, and sometimes that means others' needs may have to be put ahead of your own. Members form a cooperative for a service, not a monetary return on a capital investment.

An old joke asks, "What's the difference between a chicken and a pig?" Well, when it comes to their roles in providing us with a "bacon and eggs" breakfast, the chicken makes a contribution--the pig makes a commitment. Patrick Henry stated his commitment to independence when he said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" In the end, it is our ability to live up to our commitments that makes a cooperative a success.

Commitment to excellence, a passion for the product we produce and market, and the integrity of our members direct the future of our cooperatives. We know who we are, we know what we stand for, and we stay focused on our basic founding principles.

Being part of a cooperative combines local ownership and control along with hard work.

If we will follow the example of our leaders who have gone before us, we will realize the ultimate goals that we have set out to achieve. Our leadership must remain true to the principles and values of our founders and remain focused on a commitment to excellence in marketing the product of our labor. Winston Churchill so eloquently spoke these words that ring as true today as when he spoke them during World War II: "If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided, all will fail. Let us rise to our full level of duty and opportunity."

The cooperative way of living and working is as significant today as it was in 1621.

As we boldly move into the 21st century with its new challenges, we must be responsive, yet thoroughly--flexible, but disciplined--imaginative yet practical.

Maybe it sounds impossible to be all those things. I believe it's not if we stay focused on our principles and values that have been the foundation of cooperatives for over a century. I have confidence in the success of the cooperative system, and I believe that cooperatives will continue to make a difference just as they do today.