Author: Kelly Smith
Major Program: Community Engagement
As a nonprofit it is essential to develop partnerships with community organizations. Relationships with community partners can help with grant writing, volunteer recruitment, and program promotion. The goal of community partnerships is beneficial for both sides and strengthen the broader community. Jefferson County 4-H has developed a very strong relationship with Louisville Public Libraries. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Louisville Free Public Library wanted to conti
Author: David Coffey
During a global pandemic, schools had close for safety of students and teachers. The school system adopted an online learning model. With 33% of Jackson county living in poverty and the rate for school children being higher, the Extension service saw a need to provide internet to students in the community. The Jackson County Extension Agents worked with UK IT support and the local Internet provider to set up the Jackson County Extension Service Extension Conference Center Parking lot as a free W
Author: Leann Martin
The year 2020, will forever be in our minds as one of the most challenging years, but with great challenge, the Logan County Extension Service found great opportunities to serve through innovative thinking and planning. When traditional educational programming was unavailable, the Logan County Extension Agents for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Sciences, and 4-H & Youth Development as well as the SNAP-Ed Assistant created opportunities for educational growth.Zero-touc
Author: Joanna Coles
The Warren County Extension Agents and Staff created a fun, mobile educational program to highlight all program areas offered by the Cooperative Extension Service entitled “Extension on the Go”. This collaborative effort focused on compiling a themed bag full of educational materials, family activities, recipes, and more for Warren County residents to enjoy. For September, Fun Family Adventures was the theme and the bag included: seeds and educational mate
Author: Tracie Goodman
The McCreary County Extension Office went through many challenges in 2019, which resulted in losing several County Extension Council members. In 2020 the office was entirely rebuilt, but due to Covid and personnel changes we were unable to re-form any of the program councils apart from the Ag Program Council. With input and recommendations from the Extension District Board and other community members in April of 2021, we were able to form a well-rounded FCS and 4-H Council consisting of parents,
Author: Glen Roberts
Collaborators: Wayne County Extension District Board, Fair Board President, Susie Cowan, Parks and Recreation director, Lonnie Chaplin, County Judge Executive, Mike Anderson, Sound System Designer, Caleb Rose, ANR Agent, Glen Roberts, ANR Assistant, Terry Bertram, KSU Small Farm Assistant, Danny Adams, Wayne County Extension Custodian, Jeff Sutton.Situation: Our community does not have a good quality sound system for large community events. The system that our county park has is old
Author: Cameron Correll
Cameron Correll, the project coordinator for the Winchester Design Studio, was first approached by the Clark County 4-H Arts and Culture Club in March of 2020 to host a youth workshop that would expose them to community design principles. A single-day workshop was developed using concepts related to placemaking, idea development, and collage methods. The workshop was held in April 2021 and was attended by three youth from the club and one adult leader. The youth learned about the history of coll
Author: Brandon Sears
In our fast paced world, information is available in many forms. The Madison County ANR program has long relied on hardcopy newsletter mailings to around 1,100 households as the main source of outreach for education and program advertisement. In recent years, an electronic listserv has been created to offer clients the email option instead of regular mail. The listserv has around 150 subscribers. This way of distributing newsletters has helped reduce cost and labor within our office.The ANR prog
Author: Heather Graham
In March 2021, many counties in Eastern KY saw historic flooding. Homes destroyed, vehicles damaged, livestock swept away. The agents and staff of the Wolfe County Extension Office wanted to help their neighboring counties by acting as a centralized location to receive donation items for victims of the flood. Over the course of several weeks many items were brought to the Office: cleaning supplies, air mattresses, fans, water hoses, food, clothing, toiletries, etc. Employees put together over 20
Author: Gary Hamilton
The Beef Cattle industry and the forage production that supports it play a major role in Montgomery County’s agricultural economy. Supporting this industry with educational programing, beef promotional events, social fundraising events and interactive producer tours are the 183 members of the Montgomery County Cattlemen’s Association. Although not as active this year due to the pandemic the Association with the assistance of the Extension Service has held 3 cooking drive thru events
Author: Jessica Marquez
Success Story: Educating our community. Title: Educating the Hispanic/Latinx Community on COVID-19 Major Program: Community Engagement Plan of work: Educating and empowering individuals and families to make responsible choices and develop life skills Outcome Type: Initial Outcome Success Story: Educating and empowering the Hispanic/Latinx Community on COVID-19 Issues: What is the situation? Who cares and why?KSU Extension focuses on strengthening partnerships
Author: T. Adam Probst
Due to much of the flooding in Central/Eastern KY during the spring of 2021, the Woodford County Extension Service coordinated a flood relief drive to provide necessary items for victims. In collaboration with Woodford County Emergency Management and Millville Community Center to distribute the items locally, the Woodford County Extension Service raised several hundred pounds of cleaning supplies for over 50 affected homes in Woodford County and Eastern KY. In addition, 350 small squ
Author: Heather Coleman
When Covid-19 struck Kentucky in March of 2020, schools closed, and our in-person programs came to a standstill. During this time Floyd County 4-H provided 4-H Activity Newsletter Packets and one time grab and go kits. From March to late August, we had 540 youth take activity packets, representing 274 families. In the fall we hoped things would start to go back to normal, unfortunately it did not. During the COVID-19 pandemic our 4-H programming has had to make significant adjustments to meet th
Author: Marsha Hagler
The 4-H Helping Hands Project was developed by the members of the Nelson County 4-H Teen Council. This group of 20 members meets weekly to learn about needs in our community and how they can develop meaningful engagement projects to address those needs. Some projects are lead by extension staff and some by members of the 4-H Teen Council. The goal of the project was to introduce youth to meaningful community engagement projects that they can replicate to multiply the impact in
Community surveys in Nelson County indicated that families wanted more safe activity options in the community. Nelson County traditionally relies on tourism and fall festivals for income and community engagement. Covid-19 greatly impacted our community's ability to engage in traditional fall festivities. Nelson County 4-H also relied heavily on face-to-face fundraising efforts, in the fall such as candy sales and working events. These efforts to were curtailed due to Covid.Patterned af
Cooking with the Community, a 13 part video series, was a collaborative effort with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, Nelson County 4-H, Nelson County Nutrition Education Program, Nelson County Community Education, the Backpack Weekend Food Program and many community leaders and agencies. The videos were distributed through social media and community partners from November 2020-May 2021 and are available on the Nelson County Cooperative Extension webpage at Nelson.ca.
Author: John (Connor) Cooper
In August of 2019, the Hopkins County Extension office had a ribbon cutting on the new Danny Payton Educational Center and Farmers Market. Around 200 community members came to honor the life of Danny Payton and to see the new market in person. In a matter of months, the excitement for the market season would shift to panic as COVID-19 became present in the U.S.A.For a full year programs with Hopkins County Extension were forced to either halt or be transitioned to an online format. The same tren
Author: Diana Doggett
Kentucky maintains the highest rating of child abuse and neglect in the nation. Typically, grandparents and/or relatives are called upon to take immediate custody of these children. The needs of these children can seem overwhelming, especially if you are unexpectedly thrust into the role of being their primary caregiver. Twenty years ago, Bluegrass Area FCS agents created a handbook for children caregivers. The Bluegrass Regional Grandparents As Parents Coalition attempte
