Volunteers help extend educational efforts to meet needs of NH

Situation:
Volunteers are an incredible and vital resource for extending UNH Cooperative Extension's program efforts. They help develop and implement programs to meet the needs of New Hampshire people and make a difference in their communities.

Trained volunteers extend the "arms" of UNH Cooperative Extension. As unpaid Cooperative Extension representatives, they provide time, talent, spirit and resources to deliver programs to New Hampshir residents.

The Cooperative Extension mission would diminish without the expertise of the 3,745 volunteers educated and supported by UNH Cooperative Extension in 2003.

UNH Cooperative Extension's Response:

Volunteer programs consist of:
The 443 active volunteers of NH's Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (LLMP) donate more than 2,433 and conduct research at more than 300 lake sites and 370 tributary and outlet sites.

The Coverts Project's 205 volunteers serve 116 communities to promote wildlife and habitat conservation and forest stewardship in New Hampshire.

One hundred seventy marine docents and 98 Great Bay Coast Watch volunteers provide a lens through which students, educators and the public view and explore the coastal environment. Participants represent 185 communities.

Another 434 Master Gardeners share their knowledge of gardening by serving 12,000 hours as volunteer educators in their communities or at Cooperative Extension's Family, Home & Garden Education Center in Manchester.

The 4-H youth development program's 2,159 volunteers help 22,500 youth acquire knowledge, develop life skills and form attitudes become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society.

Eighty-five Community Tree Stewards volunteer over 4,782 hours in 58 New Hampshire communities to strengthen communities, promote social change, and enhance urban ecosystems through practices of urban forestry.

How We Make A Difference:

LLMP volunteers, students and staff monitored the effectiveness of diversion ditches and culverts installed by the NH Dept. of Transportation to reduce nutrient and sediment pollutant load into Chocorua Lake. The collected data shows a significant reduction of pollutants in the ditches and culverts flowing into Chocorua Lake, helping preserve this state icon for future generations.


NH Coverts volunteers manage more than 30,000 acres of land in New Hampshire. Coverts volunteers used their experience and training to serve as local decision-makers on conservation issues in their communities. Over 65 percent of Coverts volunteers are active on conservation commissiona, planning boards, or in local conservation groups.

Personal workforce development skills are enhanced by volunteers in the 4-H youth development program. Skills noted include supervision of staff of all ages, more tolerance of differences and the ability to organize work assignments and be an effective team member and communicator in the work place.

Marine Docents established two endowment funds to support the SeaTrek program and training. They served with over 15,000 individuals. As a result, 10 schools adopted Cooperative Extension's floating lab as part of their regular curriculum.

In the Carroll County Veggie Volunteer program, Master Gardeners organized other volunteers to pick vegetables for food pantries and non-profit kitchens. Meal programs saved $430 each week for a total of $5,771.

Seventeen Tree Stewards volunteered 1,733 hours toward land conservation projects in Rockingham, Hillsborough and Strafford counties. This past year, New Hampshire communities appropriated $36 million in land protection efforts at town meetings.

One hundred fifty Health Insurance Counseling Education Assistance Service (HICEAS) volunteers reached 3,889 individuals about confidential Medicare issues, resulting in a collective savings of $48,490 for them.

Using the Independent Sector dollar value for volunteer time of $16.54, with a minimum of close to 83,000 hours tallied for the past year, the equivalent value to UNH Cooperative Extension is $2 million.

For information about UNH Cooperative Extension’s volunteer efforts, contact:
Wendy Brock
603-862-2187
E-mail: wendy.brock@unh.edu