In response to COVID-19 closings, Allen County Cooperative Extension sought to meet a community need to provide continued education opportunities amid the new social and distance learning climate along with maintaining agriculture services for Extension clientele.  In an effort to provide new and innovative opportunities, the 4-H, ANR and FCS programs collaborated to develop programs during COVID-19 that would meet youth, families, home-owners and farmer’s needs.  The Extension Agents developed an “Extension Tool Box” that helps to keep clients informed and continuously involved with extension programs and services. The Extension Tool Box was promoted through social media and local radio programs, and was a necessary element to the continued provision of Extension Programs to the Allen County Community through soil testing, plant disease diagnostics and housing 4-H Boredom Buster and Focus on Families Education Kits.  

4-H & Youth Development Program Efforts

In an effort to quickly adapt learning opportunities for youth while learning remotely with NTI (Non-Traditional Instruction) Days, the Allen County 4-H program developed a variety of Boredom Busters Education Kits, Cooking Challenges and instructional education videos to continue to provide engaging learning experiences for the youth of Allen County.  One of the greatest undertakings of the 4-H program was the output of over 610 Boredom Buster Take-n-Go Educational Kits, which allowed youth to continue to engage in high quality hands-on-learning activities that could be completed from the safety and comfort of their homes.  Over a ten week period, these “fun and educational” kits encouraged youth to explore and learn through a wide variety of subjects widely ranging from: natural resources, expressive arts, physical fitness, mental health, photography, cultural awareness, baking, sewing, robotics, communications, science, engineering, physics, technology and so much more!   

Family & Consumer Sciences Program Efforts

               With a desire to focus on and strengthen young families, the Family and Consumer Science Program developed a Focus on Families Kit that to engage community members during COVID-19 social distancing. In total, the FCS Program made and distributed over 325 kits.  The Family and Consumer Science program partnered with the NEP (Nutrition Education Program) and the Allen County Scottsville Boys and Girls Club to specifically reach these audiences in our community.  The kits focused on a wide variety of topics and activities including: Mindful Glitter Jar, Mealtime Manners/Tea Time, Gratitude and Thank You notes, Backyard Tailgate Olympics, Clean it like you Mean It, Nutrition Labels and Portions, Recycled Magazine paper crafts, Mini Zen Garden, Outdoor Summer Fun/Water Safety, Family Olympics.  

Many families enjoyed the family-friendly activities and provided the following responses.  “[These kits] are so awesome, thank you!”  One family with four children selected the glitter jars kit and shared that “this has made their day and gave them something fun to look forward to doing.”

Agriculture & Natural Resources Program Efforts

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Program is committed to maintaining accessible research programs and services for our farmers and home owners.These programs and services continued to provide over 26 soil tests, 5 plant disease diagnostics and 5 private pesticide cards.  The spring season is incredibly busy time of year for farmers and homeowners, regardless of COVID-19. During April, the Agriculture and Natural Resources Program conducted a tree giveaway, consisting of 350 total trees with 7 different varieties over a four week period, allowing families to safely collect these at their convenience from outside the Extension Facility.  Families were very appreciative of this and we received one message saying that the family “spent time outdoors with their children planting trees and making memories”. Other than family time together, additional benefits of the program are to beautify home landscaping and enhance wildlife habitats through tree planting.During the COVID-19 closures, producers have commented saying that they “appreciate the continued service that we have provided in these trying times”.