photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County Extension Director Marlin Bates and County Commissioner Shannon Reid attended the K-State Research and Extension Open House on Thursday, September 5, 2024.

Douglas County K-State Research and Extension reached hundreds of people in Douglas County this past year — providing nutrition education, youth activities, leadership training and more — and on Thursday it outlined its plans to have an even bigger impact in the future.

On Thursday, Extension invited the community to its annual Meet & Eat Open House, which gave updates on its programs and progress since sharing its strategic plan at last year’s event.

The Extension Council began working on its strategic plan for 2023-2025 in late 2021. Extension surveyed council members, staff and volunteers to find out what the organization does well, where it could improve, and what opportunities and challenges it faces. And on Thursday, several members of Extension’s program development committees shared updates on their progress with the strategic plan.

One of Extension’s most visible programs is the county’s 4-H youth development program, which is now reaching 349 participants with 68 volunteers. Kassadie Burton-Hughes, a member of the program development committee for 4-H, said the community has also continued with 4-H school enrichment programs — a sequence of learning experiences in cooperation with educational officials during school hours to support the curriculum — and has reached over 1,000 youth in three school districts.

Additionally, Susan Andersen spoke on behalf of the health and wellness program. Andersen specifically addressed the SNAP-Ed program that is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture. It helps low-income people by promoting healthy choices through education on nutrition and physical activity. The program also works with local and state organizations to enhance policies, systems, and environments that encourage healthy behaviors.

Andersen said the program has provided education to 244 youth, adults and seniors throughout Douglas County through nutrition classes and interactive lessons by community-based nutrition educators.

photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Many people attended the K-State Research and Extension Open House on Thursday, September 5, 2024.

Extension also aims to support rural residents of Douglas County by creating a physical and online guide on property selection and land management. Extension Council board member Stephen Kalb said that the team is also preparing for the Rural Resource Fair next April, where it plans to invite contractors experienced in building driveways and ponds and managing brush, as well as experts in soil science and fertility.

Another notable program within the strategic plan is community capacity building, which provides formal training for Douglas County civic and governmental bodies’ board members and community members seeking opportunities of board service.

“This curriculum really gives people guidance on it and gives them the confidence to say, ‘You know, we can make those changes,'” said Mackie Moore, a member of the community capacity building program.

“I think one of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of people especially in the Lawrence community understand, and I’m sure it’s in other communities too, is it’s a lot of the same faces on boards a lot of times,” Moore said. “So how do we encourage folks to go ahead and step out there and be involved? I think training like this will help us to be able to get those new people with new ideas and step up into those capacities and work within our communities and these systems.”

The staff, the Extension Council’s executive board and the four program development committees are in charge of the plan. The executive board plans to hold full council meetings twice a year to update everyone on both operations and programs. It will also review progress toward the plan’s goals every three months.

Extension Council Director Marlin Bates said that there can be challenges with having as many different program areas as Extension does. While many people might be familiar with just one aspect of their work, there are many other opportunities available.

As the Journal-World reported, the Douglas County Commission held a work session on Aug. 21 with Extension to better understand their relationship before commissioners finalized the 2025 budget that month.

Commissioners started a discussion about Extension a month prior after reviewing funding requests from Extension, including $16,862 for a cost-of-living adjustment for existing staff, $5,383 to resolve pay equity issues and $15,000 to support a contribution toward the salary of the LiveWell Douglas County executive director.

During the budget discussions in July, Commissioner Patrick Kelly had said that the county provided about 65% of Extension’s funding. And at the work session in August, Commissioner Karen Willey asked for the exact dollar amount that the county spends on Extension each year, but there was no additional information able to be provided at the time. Willey said a lot of the points raised at the work session would have to be discussed with Extension Council in greater detail.

Bates told the Journal-World that the Extension Council Executive Board has not had the chance to discuss how they will be moving forward, but he said the connection that Extension has with Douglas County, as evidenced through all the discussion during that work session, was very strong.

“I think the next steps are (to) make sure there’s clarity and understanding and where we can have an opportunity to forge greater partnerships in the endeavors that they hold important (and) align with what we’re doing,” Bates said.