The Covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous effect on how extension offices conduct business.  Martin County has strictly followed the Healthy at Work Guidelines in an effort to slow down and stop the spread of the virus.  Since reopening the office we have strictly enforced social distancing, made sure staff and clientele wear face coverings, provided hand sanitizer, encouraged hand washing, cleaned the building and all surfaces and made sure that staff and clientele feel healthy before entering the building. 

Enacting all these measures along with our inability to conduct traditional learning experiences at schools and other places has given us the opportunity to reach people in other ways. A highlight for our programs has been our Facebook page.  We have reached people at a very high rate with this platform.  We have shared educational information from all program areas (Family Consumer Sciences, 4-H and Agriculture).  We have also made sure to keep our clientele up to date on what is going on with Covid-19 and how to stay safe.  

Since March, our Facebook followers have gone up 17%.  This has helped us grow our overall audience and helped us to impact more lives.  We plan to now utilize Facebook and other social media platforms to supplement our programs at the same rate we are now when the state completely opens up.  It has been such a revelation to all of our programs.