Summer 2022
We Grow Community Events
In recognition of World Hunger Day, Durham County Cooperative Extension partnered with other local organizations to host Durham’s first annual World Hunger Day event on Saturday, June 4, 2022. About 700 Durham residents celebrated this important day with a large outdoor event at Durham Central Park.
The World Hunger Day event helped raise awareness of food insecurity experienced in the community, let folks know how they can get involved, connected families to resources, and highlighted the amazing work being done to support residents and create a more fair and equitable food system. Additionally, many organizations were able to network and foster new connections. Attendees enjoyed music, arts, and entertainment for the entire family, including food trucks, giveaways, free snacks, bounce house and more.
World Hunger Day Durham, NC was the dream and cooperative effort of the following organizations:, Durham Congregations in Action, Durham County Cooperative Extension, Durham County Public Health DINE (Durham’s Innovative Nutrition Education), Durham County Social Services, Durham County Soil & Water, End Hunger Durham, Feed My Sheep of Durham NC, Inc, Mount Calvary United Church of Christ, Triangle Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership Center, Unite Us
For more information about how to get involved with next year's World Hunger Day, contact Mary Oxendine at moxendi@ncsu.edu.
We Grow Healthy Gardens
In late March, FCS Agent Cheralyn Berry and FCS Program Assistant Gaebryl Vives were contacted by Feed the Hungry, a global non-profit distributor of seeds with the mission of improving food security internationally. Their main vendor Cherokee Seed Company was closing their doors permanently and wanted to donate their entire inventory to a local community. Cheralyn and Gaeb drove to Simpson, NC in a 26ft box truck to load 10,000 lbs of seed packets to share across North Carolina.
Once the seeds arrived in Durham, Food Security Coordinator Mary Oxendine contacted the Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC. They offered to house and organize the entire inventory for redistribution and volunteered their site for a drive through pickup. The Seed and Feed event was a great success. Organizations and individuals dropped off food donations and picked up bagged seed packets to share with their neighbors and clients. Seeds included contact information for Extension Master Gardener Volunteers and planting calendars for the Piedmont region.
Harry Huntley the Food Banks Volunteer Engagement Supervisor: “Back in March, we were put in touch with the NC Cooperative Extension about a wonderful opportunity to assist them with Seed and Feed. We collaborated to host a food drive and drive-thru distribution that collected over 500 pounds of food and distributed approximately 800 bags of seeds! All in all, it took approximately 150 volunteers a combined 30 hours to sort, organize, and then subsequently repack the seeds into five-pound variety bags. Each bag contained about 25 different varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The final total was over 1500 bags, with about half being handed out by the end of the event!”
Following the event, the remaining seeds were distributed during World Hunger Day and the City of Durham Compost Giveaway at Briggs Community Garden. These seeds have helped thousands of people to plant gardens to increase food security in homes and communities across NC. This effort is an excellent example of Extension using the strength of our community relationships in Durham to help people improve their lives.
Thanks to the giveaway groups like the Durham County Library Seed Bank, Women in Ag, Orange County Master Gardeners, community gardens in Raleigh, Durham, Franklinton and Orange Counties were able to receive seeds to provide for their gardens for years to come.
We Grow New Farmers
For many new farmers, visions of healthy fruits and veggies, or animals on well-tended pasture, are what fuel their early efforts. But behind every tasty tomato at the farmers market is a business that needs to figure out how to balance its books, navigate insurance and other legal concerns, and plan on when and how to grow. NC Farm School, a collaboration between NC Cooperative Extension specialists and agents, helps entrepreneurs learn how to turn their farm dreams into business realities.
The Durham-based Northern Piedmont class of NC Farm School was proud to host our second graduation this June. The gathering celebrated 24 new and beginning farmers and their families as they completing four months of hands-on and classroom training on the business of starting a new farm. Immanuel and Valarie Jarvis of Jireh Family Farm, graduates of last year's NC Farm School, graciously hosted, providing delicious food and sharing stories of their own adventures in starting a farm. Just as we hope for our new graduates, Valarie and Immanuel said that NC Farm School helped them build the foundation of a successful farm business.
To learn more about NC Farm School, including news about upcoming classes, visit https://ncfarmschool.ces.ncsu.edu/.
We Grow Digital Access
Welcome Baby is an early intervention program that focuses on early childhood development, school readiness skills, child abuse prevention and building stronger relationships between parent/guardian and child. According to the CDC “lack of access to resources can increase the likelihood of child abuse.” One resource we managed to address over the past year through our collaboration and partnership with Kramden Institute was the digital divide. This divide was made more evident when COVID forced schools to go to remote learning. Through our partnership with Kramden Institute we were able to distribute 60 laptops and 20 desktops to our families, and we look forward to continuing to be a part of addressing the digital divide in Durham.
Welcome Baby also formed a new collaborating partnership with Central Park School. This is one of the most meaningful partnerships we have ever had, because it focused on teaching children about giving back. A very special thank you to Sister Nia and her second grade CPS class for organizing a fundraiser benefitting Welcome Baby. Thank you, Sister Nia, for educating the mind and the heart by teaching children on how to give back to society.
We Grow Civic Leadership
Kids Voting Durham’s 2022 team of Civic Leadership youth interns will be working through June, July, and August to create Kids Voting Durham’s popular Election Guide. This year’s contingent has 17 youth ages 14-22; about half the youth are new to KVD and the others are joining for the first time.. As always, the Guide is created “by youth, for youth”, and the team brainstorming, researching, and creating content to help K-12 voters make informed decisions about what candidates to vote for in the 2022 Kids Voting Midterm Elections this Fall. The team has the benefit of working together in a hybrid format for the first time, with some youth participating from the Kids Voting offices at Durham County Cooperative Extensions and others joining by zoom from locations as far off as India and Scotland where they are traveling.
Look for the Guide on kidsvotingdurham.org and on Instagram @kvdelectionguide in late August. It will have written, video, and interactive features that give information on the issues, offices, and candidates in this election And while it is design for youth, a lot of adults make it their go to for voting information as well!
Volunteer Spotlight
Robin Mason
Advisory Council Member
After graduating from our Parent & Family Advocacy and Training (PFAST) program, Robin Mason wanted to stay involved with Durham County Cooperative Extension. She reached out to Erin Matoko, our Volunteer Coordinator, and found a great fit helping out in the Welcome Baby program. Erin shared, “Robin is such a hard worker who is really devoted to Welcome Baby’s mission of helping young families”.
After eight months of volunteer service, Robin applied to join the Durham County Cooperative Extension Advisory Council, where she now serves the community in a leadership position. In this role, she helps inform Cooperative Extension programs and practices to make sure that they are community centered.
In addition to her full-time job working for one of Durham’s largest health care organizations, and volunteering, Robin is busy raising her elementary-aged daughter. Family is very important to her, and her favorite pastimes are to spend time with her adult daughter and to travel, especially with her elderly parents.
Robin said that, “Volunteering means giving back to the community and or group of individuals. Doing good in your neighborhood!” She is proud to be affiliated with Cooperative Extension- both as a program participant and a volunteer.
Employee Spotlight
Erin Matoko
Volunteer Coordinator
If you’ve ever met Durham County Cooperative Extension’s Volunteer Coordinator, Erin Matoko, you know that helping other people is her primary motivation. Erin’s bright smile and warm spirit reflect her desire to make her hometown a better place. Born and raised in the Bull City, Erin has worked at Cooperative Extension in two roles: first as an Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Associate for five years, and for the past three and a half years as our amazing organizer of all things volunteer-related.
Erin shares that she loves her job because she is constantly meeting new people. She loves learning from each of the volunteers with whom she works, “especially the older volunteers because they have so much wisdom.”
A mother of a three-year-old daughter with another daughter on the way, Erin stays busy with her family and her church. She enjoys taking daughter Priscilla to the library- especially now that Priscilla has a passion for picking out her own books as a big three-year-old!
Durham County Cooperative Extension’s volunteer program has grown by leaps and bounds under Erin’s leadership. She is a Certified Volunteer Administrator of NC and worked with her colleagues to get our office designated as a Service Enterprise, an organization that is nationally certified as being a good place for volunteers to serve.
If you would like to share some of your time with Durham County Cooperative Extension and give back to our community, please reach out to Erin at ematoko@dconc.gov
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North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Durham County Center 721 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701* (919) 560-0525
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Created with images by MediaNation.online - "Mix of various Indian vegetables on an isolated white background " • schapinskaja - "tomato plant with ripe and green tomatoes" • Rawpixel.com - "Diverse Hands Holding Word Vote Concept"