When the Covid-19 Pandemic struck it presented challenges for not only physical health of those infected but also the mental well-being of the entire country. David Weisenhorn, UK Senior Specialist for Parenting and Child Development said, "the uncertainty around Covid-19 is even harder for Children," additionally, the implications around school closures and social distancing requirements have the potential to have a long-term impact on youth mental health. 

To continue to support youth and their families during this pandemic the Washington County 4-H worked to provide hands-on programming. With 23% of households without access to a computing device and 32% of households without access to high-speed internet, it was clear that that response needed to span across the digital divide. 

The Washington County Extension service developed a Brown Bag Project in order to address this issue. County Extension Agents and volunteers created kits that contained instructions, all the supplies needed to complete projects, and additional information which clientele could use to explore the subjects further. Topics covered in the Brown Bag Project included areas like building pollinator habitats, stress management techniques, owl pellet dissection, sewing, and gardening vegetables and herbs to use with the provided SNAP recipes. 

To date, we have distributed 2,742 project bags to more than 220 households in the Washington County community. The program served to provide meaningful educational content to clientele as well as drove new community members to discover Extension programming. In a survey conducted at the end of the first month of the program, 59% of respondents reported prior to participating in the Brown Bag Project, they visited the Washington County Extension Office once a year or less. 

The program also serves to enrich the lives of families and inspire a stronger family bond. 100% of survey respondents report learning new tips and skills, as well as their family engaging in more quality family time as a result of the program. 87.5% report making healthier lifestyle choices and 78.57% report that their child(ren)'s non-traditional experienced has been enhanced due to their participation in the Washington County Brown Bag Project. 

One parent reported, "It gives my kids something to look forward to every week and it provides them with challenges and lots of learning with school out of session. Its the kids only venture out weekly so they enjoy! It provides our entire family time to sit down and work on the crafts together which rarely happened before COVID-19." 

This project was created with financial and in-kind support from the Kentucky 4-H Foundation ($250), the Washington County FRSYC ($1,500), Bonnie Plants, and various community volunteers.