Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing guidelines from our state and national public health entities, many in-person extension programs were not able to continue in the spring and summer months of 2020. To adapt to these changes, the Bullitt County Extension office agents and staff collaborated to create and provide several “Grab and Go Bags” which were placed in front of the office for families to pick up and take home to complete. 

Some of the kits that the ANR agent helped to provide were Home Vegetable Gardening, All About Bugs, Healthy at Home, Earth Day, Get to Know Kentucky, Time to Save, Fabric for Face Masks, and Cane Pole Fishing Tournament. These bags were designed with three things in mind: 

1. Helping kids understand economic and social changes during the pandemic. The masks kits allowed families to make their own masks. The Time to Save kits were a helpful resource to teach budgeting.  
2. To promote being active in the outdoors. The Vegetable Gardening, All About Bugs, Healthy at Home and Cane Pole Fishing kits encouraged outdoor activities.
3. Increasing awareness of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Vegetable Gardening, Earth Day, Get to Know Kentucky, and Cane Pole Fishing kits had agriculture information for Kentucky and Bullitt County.

Over a fifteen week period, 560 ANR Grab and Go bags were created. The bags were limited to one per family and every single bag was picked up within a week of being placed outside the office. Of these families, 50 were new to Extension. The county website and social media were used to market the bags and to share successes from families using the supplies. There were many shared photos of vegetable gardens growing, kids sewing face masks, and playing outside with their projects.