Note from the County Director

Seasons greetings from the Fulton/Mason/Peoria/Tazewell Extension Unit.

All our staff have been busy since July 1st working hard to make our new multi-county extension unit successful; and I'm happy to report that it's going extremely well.

Part of our unit vision is that every person and community we serve will experience and recognize a positive impact from our work. The feedback we are consistently getting to date indicates this outcome is happening. We celebrate that success, while recognizing that it is a never-ending challenge; one that makes me excited to get up and go to work each day with that goal in mind.

Staff have been reaching people and communities in all four of our counties and in all of our primary subject matter areas (i.e. 4-H youth development, sustainable agriculture, horticulture, nutrition, and community development). With 5 educators, 23 programming staff, and 6 secretarial staff, we are one of the largest units in the state, and in my opinion, the best overall team.

In order to make people more aware of the positive impacts we are having locally, we are generating monthly Extension Snapshots for distribution to stakeholders, volunteers and any others interested in seeing what we are doing on a regular basis. Each Extension Snapshot is a one page summary of the what, why and positive outcomes of a particular extension program, project or event. The staff generates 5-10 of these each month. If you want these Snapshots emailed to you, contact the extension office and we will add you to our list. Alternatively, the Snapshots can be viewed on our website web.extension.illinois.edu/fmpt/

In addition to informing you about what we are doing, the Snapshots will give you ideas of how we can use our resources to help you or your community.

This newsletter is another way we will be communicating with you. It will be sent twice a year. We will also be producing a quarterly "Extension in Action" report highlighting our activities.

Enjoy the holidays, and please take time to read through this newsletter and get a taste for what we are doing locally.

Earl Allen

County Extension Director