According to the most recent US Census Bureau and AmeriCorps survey, volunteer participation dropped 7 percentage points between 2019 and 2021.   That is the largest decrease the survey has recorded since a version of it started in 2002.  A lack of volunteers puts a strain on the safety net that nonprofits provide to many of society’s most vulnerable.

This Fayette County Nutrition Education Program assistant taught the Families In The Kitchen…Cook Together, Eat Together (CTET) curriculum to families from the One Parent Scholar House in Lexington, KY. This curriculum provides significant hands-on work for the families involved and it is very helpful if there is volunteer support to help the NEP assistant.

During a recent class, one of the participants was very engaged with her two kids during the lessons and food preparation.  She was so interested in the class that she asked me how she might become a volunteer.  She said that volunteering would help her in completing her master’s degree, but mostly she wanted to help because of her experience with the CTET class.  She said that, “This class made me realize the importance of including everyone in the home when deciding on and preparing healthy, affordable family meals.  She will now be providing support to this NEP assistant when he is teaching in area schools in the Fall of 2024.  This NEP assistant will take all the help he can get.