Author: Alexandria Brasher
Planning Unit: Henderson County CES
Major Program: Community Engagement
Plan of Work: Safe Communities
Outcome: Initial Outcome
In 2022, the Henderson County 4-H Council made it a goal to have more community involvement and came up a back-to-school bash community event. With that event brought more families into the 4-H Program. After the success of that event, the 4-H Agents made a pitch to the County Extension Council to host an Extension Extravaganza to showcase everything the Henderson County Extension Office had to offer and to involve the whole family and provide research-based materials that participants could not only learn about at the event but build upon by becoming involved in Extension programs. The County Extension Council was on board and created a planning committee to get started. One volunteer from each program area set on the planning committee. The event was to have informational booths about each program area as well and food and inflatables to bring people into the event.
The event was held in September 2023 and had over twenty booths boasting more information about Henderson County Extension incuding:, Nutrition Education Programs, Soil Testing, Homemakers, 4-H Teen Club, Recipes,, Master Gardeners, 4-H CloverBud Club, Henderson County Fair Exhibits, 4-H Shooting Sports, 4-H Horse Club, Sewing, 4-H Country Ham, Food Preservation, 4-H Livestock club, 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club, FCS Programming, 4-H Afterschools Club, 4-H Cooking Club, and more; and just for fun, snow cones, a petting zoo, face painting, and inflatables. Booths handed out flyers and several had hands on activities for participants to do. We had over fifty extension volunteers from each area including teens, adults, homemakers, master gardeners, and more. Volunteers encouraged involvement by sharing their personal Extension journey and impact that programs have had on their personal lives as they exchanged information. The County Extension Council Planning Committee promoted the event through the Chamber of Commerce, local radio, and social media outlets. Impacts were made and new clientele were reached because of the event. Over 250 people attended the family fun event with over 75 visiting every booth at the event. 4-H saw an increase in membership in our afterschool clubs and our community clubs including Shooting Sports, Cooking, cloverbud, and livestock!
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