A youth minister at a downtown African American church raises and train horses here. He regularly employs and mentors young men from the "inner city" on his farm that otherwise would not have an opportunity to learn a good work ethic and social skills. During a farm visit he shared that he also engaged them in community service. We discussed extension events such as Field Day and other activities where they could volunteer. In 2019 he brought 6 youths to our Farm City Field Day to experience the event and see how it functions so they had an understanding when they would volunteer in the future.

In Franklin Co. most of our farmers are part-time and rely on family labor or trade with neighboring farms. Our office regularly get calls looking for seasonal farm help and day laborers. Unfortunately the labor pool is practically non-existant for this type of work. Recently a producer contacted me distressed over the fact that he had 10 acres of alfalfa cut and needed it square baled before a rain and couldn't find help through his traditional sources. I decided to reach out to the  minister and see if he was interested in a job opportunity for his youth. The next day he had four young men loading and unloading square bales for $10.00 per hour. A win-win for both parties. Later on I was contacted by another horse farm needing assistance with grounds upkeep and other small jobs. Again I contacted the minister and now a young person saving for college is working 2-3 days a week at the horse farm.

This relationship has developed into a seasonal/short term labor pool for part-time farmers giving young men an opportunity to earn money while learning about agriculture, a work ethic and volunteerism for their community.