You'll find them in nearly every county and Statemen and women, youth, seniors, and those in betweengiving freely of their time, energy, and talents, devoting countless hours to helping others in their communities. They are Extension volunteerspeople motivated not by money, but by true care and concern for their fellow neighbors.

Volunteers have aided the Cooperative Extension System (CES) since its inception. Volunteers helped establish many local CES offices, and they continue to serve on advisory groups and planning committees. Currently, Extension has more than 3 million volunteers working across all program areas and contributing significantly to community leadership, agriculture, economic development, and the environment.

Almost every volunteer role involves some form of teaching. With this in mind, Extension has developed programs to ensure that its volunteers are properly skilled to assist others.

Leadership Education

Penn State University Cooperative Extension offers a variety of training programs in leadership development. "Developing Your Personal and Community Leadership Potential," a five-part, 13- hour program presented by Clearfield County Cooperative Extension, helps rural residents improve their leadership skills so they can better address issues in their communities. The program focuses on teamwork, motivation, goal setting, and agenda building. "Rural Leadership, Incorporated" (RULE), a 2-year course offered by Penn State at the undergraduate or graduate level, emphasizes communication, public speaking, and group interaction skills. The program also addresses the function of government and how to become more active in it.

RULE's goal is to help mold the leaders needed in rural Pennsylvania. "Family Community Leadership" (FCL), the college's newest leadership development program, encourages people to become active in community issues. FCL instructs groups consisting of a county Extension agent and as many as three volunteers, who in turn instruct other community members to become active in community affairs. FCL groups undergo 30 hours of training in leadership and communication, group processes, issue analysis, teaching methods, volunteerism, and public policy. Each group is obligated to conduct 96 hours of leadership education in their community during the next year.

Master Volunteer Program

Extension's Master Volunteer Program is another method of providing in depth training and assignments centered around the volunteers' interests and skills. After receiving this training, volunteers are asked to share their expertise with others. In this way, Extension cultivates a group of expertly trained volunteers, instead of training all who are interested. The program's success can be attributed to its sound structure, clear definition of subject areas, and precise boundaries within which volunteers should operate.

The concept of Master Volunteers began in the early 1970's in Washington State, when Extension horticultural staff in the counties and at Washington State University-Pullman needed helpduring gardening season consumers were bombarding them with questions and requests for information.

Washington State Extension's Master Gardener program became the model for other Master Volunteer programs, including ones related to the environment. The number of training hours and sharing vary by State and type of Master Volunteer.

Palmetto Leadership

Palmetto Leadership is a new training program offered by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service. It aims to revitalize rural South Carolina communities by developing leaders from all private and public sectors of a county into a cohesive group, which will help the county solve problems.

Palmetto Leadership focuses on constructive consensus building countywide, encourages facilitation and education among key community leaders, promotes strategic planning by task forces regarding community and county concerns, and enhances community and leadership development through a social action process. Participants engage in a three-phase seminar series: Phase I, Leadership and Community Development; Phase II, Implementation and Strategic Planning; and Phase III, Emerging Leadership and Development.

Palmetto Leadership has helped government leaders, industries, and residents in these counties achieve great successes:

• Abbeville County is consolidating all school districts, and it has established an Adopt-A-Highway program that has cleared over 46,000 pounds of litter from more than 60 miles of roadway.
• Saluda County leaders are establishing a countywide Chamber of Commerce.
• Dillon County initiated a major strategic planning effort for economic development.
• Kershaw County has made great strides in providing affordable housing for its citizens.

Targeting Minority Elderly

The Texas Agricultural Extension Service, in collaboration with the Texas Department on Aging and the National Center for Rural Elderly at the University of Missouri, has developed a peer educator program to train older minorities to teach their peers at centralized nutrition sites. The goal is to enhance the delivery of physical health, nutrition, and mental health education to the older minority participants.

The peer educator strategy involves older nutrition site participants in seeking solutions to problems encountered in later life. Peer educators use four programs consisting of six true-to-life video scenarios to focus on significant problems identified by older minorities. Research-based information is incorporated into the scenarios. The peer educators are trained to lead discussions and reinforce key points from the video programs.

Program objectives include helping peer educators increase their knowledge in content areas taught, value their roles as peer educators, and teach six or more lessons to minorities. The project was piloted in 16 counties. Eventually, Texas Extension plans to make the programs available statewide and nationally throughout the Cooperative Extension System.

Extension Needs You

In the 1990's, the call for Extension volunteers will continue to escalate. Volunteers will be a key to maintaining organizational structure and expanding Extension and USDA programs to greater audiences.

To become part of the winning team of Extension volunteers, contact your local county Extension office. Your support is needed!