Volunteers are an incredible and vital resource for extending UNH Cooperative Extension's program efforts. Specifically recruited, well-screened and trained volunteers complement and multiply staff efforts across the state. Volunteers are a vital link between Extension educators and the New Hampshire citizens they are unable to serve directly.

Each year Extension volunteers assist paid staff in developing and delivering programs to educate citizens in the stewardship of our state’s forests, wildlife, agriculture, marine and fresh water resources as well as positive youth development.

As unpaid Cooperative Extension representatives, more than 5,000 volunteers in 2007 provided their time, talent, spirit and resources to deliver programs in New Hampshire, saving taxpayers over $1.9 million if they had to pay for this service.

Some examples of how these volunteers made a difference include:

As part of a Governor’s Commission grant on Drug and Alcohol Prevention, Intervention and Treatment, Extension contracted with the University of Mississippi to come to New Hampshire last April to train community teen and adult volunteers to teach Health Rocks! We recruited over 50 people and this past spring and summer, teams of teens taught Health Rocks! in after-school programs as well as during the school day in Claremont, Newport, Charlestown, Cornish, Unity and Sunapee. In Sunapee, the teens were so well received in an after-school program, they were asked to present the lessons to two "at-risk" classes of sixth graders.

Extension’s Family, Home and Garden Education Center has 170 Master Gardeners who volunteered over 3,000 hours and answered 6,159 phone calls and 1,191 email questions.

4-H volunteers, numbering over 3,000 this past year, support the program, which provides positive experiences for all youth and adults to develop their individual potential as caring and contributing members of an ever-changing world.

A new volunteer reports, "Of the community groups available to youth, I believe that 4-H offers entire families the most well-rounded and supportive experience. Many parents feel as I do, and I have received a lot of encouragement from friends and neighbors to help start a Cloverbud club."

UNH Cooperative Extension has a proven track record in effective volunteer management that allows staff to recruit, train, and support volunteers to help further educational programs to New Hampshire residents. A little over 105,000 hours of volunteer time in 2007 extended the educational scope of UNH Cooperative Extension to these residents. Based on the Independent Sector rate of $18.27 per hour for New Hampshire, this saved taxpayers $1,925,457 if they had to pay for this service.