-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 19,1986
58
Extension Service's EFNEP Program Takes
Nutrition Education To Urban Communities
BY MARGIE FUSCO
Cambria County Correspondent
GREENSBURG Pat Long is
angry. Despite a sunny day and a
successful conclusion to the West
moreland County day camp, the
senior extension agent is on a
subject that gets her steamed: the
July 1906 Reader’s Digest article
that labels the Cooperative Ex
tension Services as one of “Uncle
Sam’s Ten Worst Taxpayer Rip-
Offs.”
“The writer didn’t mention a
thing about nutrition programs. He
probably didn’t even know about
them.” She pauses, and noting that
the author spoke to an official in
the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, adds, “I’ll bet he
didn’t know about them, either.”
Long is responsible for ad
ministering the Expanded Food
and Nutrition Education Program
in Westmoreland County, one of 56
county programs in the state.
EFNEP, as Long notes, may be the
extension service’s best-kept
secret.
Whereas most extension ser
vices deal with the rural com
munity, EFNEP takes the lessons
of agriculture into the heart of
urban communities. Founded in
1969 (with Westmoreland as one of
the pilot counties in the project),
EFNEP helps low-income families
improve their nutrition through
education and better use of
resources.
In Pennsylvania, the program
reaches almost 6,000 families a
year. Westmoreland County an
nually serves about 250 families
through EFNEP. More than half of
these households have less than
$438 in monthly income. Although
most of the participants receive
Westmoreland
BY MARGIE FUSCO
Cambria County Correspondent
GREENSBURG - Bradley
Diggs is a winner in more ways
than one. He’s one of 200
youngsters, ages 8 to 12, who at
tended the 16th annual West
moreland County 4-H Day Camp,
held July 7-10 at Twin Lakes Park
near Greensburg.
Diggs won the apple eat-off
during his group’s day at the
camp. But like all the others who
attended the program, he took
home more than an award.
“The camp is designed to make
learning fun,” explains Pat Long,
home economist with the West
moreland County Agricultural
Extension Service. The camp is
part of the federally-funded Ex
panded Food and Nutrition
Education Program, administered
by the Extension Service in 56
Pennsylvania counties.
Because EFNEP includes 4-H
clubs in its range of nutrition
education programs, the idea of
day camps was established near
the program’s start. The annual
Westmoreland County day camp is
open to youngsters in four com
* v
y campers
food stamps and other supple
mental help, many of the home
makers are young and are un
certain about how to make ends
meet and still feed their children
well.
“We’re not talking about people
who are ripping off the system,”
Long says. “We’re talking about
people with a genuine need. Maybe
they oeme out of poor homes
themselves and they don’t even
know the basics of good nutrition.
Or maybe they’re unemployed and
suddenly living on a tiny income,
trying to figure out how to meet the
bills and still feed a family. These
are people we’re helping.”
Through EFNEP, nutrition aides
meet with homemakers and teach
them about basic nutrition, food
selection and preparation, and
skills such as gardening and
canning. “People who grew up
learning to can and garden
presume everyone knows how, but
a lot of folks don’t,” Long explains.
“A lot of the people we deal with
haven’t been near a garden before,
or they’re far removed from
families who could teach them.
They need a network of people who
can help.”
EFNEP aides also work with
children, establishing 4-H clubs in
low-income communities. “In the
past, these clubs were labeled and
separated,’’ says Joanne Logan, 4-
H advisor in Westmoreland
County. “They were the nutrition
clubs. Now we’re making every
effort to treat all our elute
equally.” Programs such as the
annual 4-H day camp help EFNEP
aides, volunteer helpers, and 4-H
members reach even more
children with education about
nutrition. Logan notes that
4-H Camp Makes Learning Fun
munities served by EFNEP. For a
token fee of 50 cents, the youth gets
a day-long program of workshops
and games, along with a hot,
nutritious lunch.
This year’s camp focused on
apples. Campers were divided into
groups identified by apple
varieties. They played a “Wheel of
Fortune” game in one workshop,
answering questions about proper
nutrition. In another workshop,
they learned how to operate a
microwave oven and baked their
own anples for a snack. After lunch
they held an apple eat-off contest,
then had a miniature petting zoo
featuring farm animals. The day
ended with games and a boat trip
on one of the park’s lakes.
A new feature of this year’s
program was a separate workshop
for adult chaperones at the day
camp. While the youngsters were
busy with games and crafts under
the watchful eyes of their 4-H club
counselors, the grownups went off
to leam beauty tips and try their
own hands at a craft. “A lot of
mothers come along each year as
volunteers,” Long explains. “We
wanted the women to spend a day
up
**¥
<ward join their counsc.ors in parai games.
'om
nutrition-based 4-H clubs out
number livestock clubs in the
county.
The Westmoreland County
EFNEP program functions with
six aides in addition to Long. One
aide works entirely with youth
programs. The remainder spend
the majority of their time with
adult programs. “Our staff really
works as a team,” Long says.
“That’s what it takes to make it
work, and it’s working here.”
But Long knows that things may
change soon. The program is
facing substantial revisions in
November. “Up until now it’s been
mostly one-on-one. We take a
homemaker and work with her
over the course of three years. We
evaluate her knowledge at the
beginning and help her to build
skills and get confidence in herself
as a homemaker.” The new
program will shift the emphasis to
group activities and will require
that instruction time be shortened
to one year.
Noting that group instruction
can be difficult in low-income
areas where neighbors may be at
odds, Long admits, “I’m con
cerned about how it’s going to work
out.” She has an additional con
cern: in January she will be losing
three of her nutrition aides to
retirement. “It’s taken a lot of
years to develop this program,”
she says. “I feel as if we’ve done a
lot of good. Now we’ll have to cut
back and serve fewer families. ’ ’
Agnes Mayewski, one of the
nutrition aides facing retirement,
says, “This has been more than
just a job for me. I feel as if I’m
doing something for people,
making some difference in their
lives. I worry about what’s going to
become of a good program. ’ ’
feeling good about themselves.”
It’s not just the mothers who
learn to feel good about them
selves. Bradley Diggs, usually
solemn-faced, breaks into a grin as
he accepts his apple eat-off award.
Maria Glance hesitantly tries her
first-ever sip of goat’s milk... and
goes on to drain the glass eagerly.
“I just milked a sheep! I really did
it!” a girl shrieks. It’s not im
portant that she really milked a
goat; what matters is that for the
first time all day she peers out over
the movie star sunglasses she’s
been hiding behind.
“This is a special place,” notes
Extension Service 4-H Advisor
Joanne Logan, who helps to run the
camp. She points to the number of
4-H teens who come back year
after year to act as counselors.
“One fellow over there has even
graduated from the program this
year, but he came back because he
wanted to work the day camp one
more time.”
Kim Flowers of the New
Alexandria Home Ec 4-H speaks
for the others when she says, “I
love it. I love working with the kids
here. I think I leant as much from
them as they do from me.”
See your nearest
NEW HOLLAND
Dealer for Dependable
Equipment and Dependable
Service:
Annville, PA
B H M. Farm
Equipment, Inc
RD 1
717-867-2211
Beavertown, PA
B&R Farm
Equipment, Inc
RD 1, 80x217A
717-658-7024
Belleville, PA
IvanJ Zook
Farm Equipment
Belleville, Pa
717-935-2948
Mill Hall, PA
„ . nA Paul A Dotterer
Canton, PA R D 1
Hess Farm Equipment 717-726-3471
717-673-5143
Carlisle, PA
Paul Shovers, Inc
35 East Willow Street
717-243-2686
Chambersburg, PA
Clugston
Implement, Inc
RD 1
717-263-4103
Davidsburg, PA
George N Gross, Inc
R D 2, Dover, PA
717-292-1673
Elizabethtown, PA
Messick Farm
Equipment, Inc
Rt 283 Rheem'sExit
717 367-1319
Everett, PA
C Paul Ford S Son
RD 1
814-652 2051
Gettysburg, PA
Ymglmg Implements Quarryville. PA
R D9 CE WileyS Son, Inc
717 359-4848 101 South Lime Street
717 786-2895
Greencastle, PA
Meyers Ringtown, PA
Implement's Inc Ringtown Farm
400 N Antrim Way Equipment
P080x97 Ringtown, PA
717-597-2176 717-889-3184
Halifax, PA
Sweigard Bros
R D 3, Box 13
717-896-3414
Hamburg. PA
Shartlesville
Farm Service
RD 1, Box 1392
215 488-1025
Hanover, PA
Sheets Brothers, Inc
1061 Carlisle St
Hanover, PA 17331
717-632 3660
Honey Brook, PA Churchville, MD
Dependable Motor Co Walter G Coale Inc
East Main Street 2849-53
215-273-3131 Churchville Rd
215-273-3737 301-734-7722
Honey Grove, PA Frederick, MD
Norman D Clark New Holland, Inc
& Son, Inc Rt 26 East
Honey Grove, PA 301-662-4197
717-734-3682
Hughesville, PA
Farnsworth Farm
Supplies, Inc
103 Cemetery Street
717 584-2106
Lancaster. PA
L H Brubaker, Inc
350 Strasburg Pike
717 397-5179
Lebanon. PA
Keller Bros Woodstown. NJ
Tractor Co Owen Supply Co
RD 7, Box 405 Broad Street &
717-949-6501 East Avenue
609-769-0308
Lititz, PA
Roy A Brubaker
700 Woodcrest Av
717 626-7766
Loysville, PA
Paul Shovers, Inc
Loysville, PA
717 789 3117
Lynnport, PA
KermitK Kistler, Inc
Lynnport, PA
215-298-2011
New Holland, PA
ABC Groff, Inc
110 South Railroad
717-354-4191
New Park, PA
M&R Equipment Inc
P O Box 16
717 993-2511
Oley, PA
C J Wonsidler Bros
RD 2
215-987 6257
Pitman, PA
Marlin W Schreffler
Pitman, PA
717 648-1120
Quakertown, PA
C J Wonsidler Bros
RD 1
215 536-1935
Tamaqua, PA
Charles S Snyder, Inc
RD 3
717-386 5954
West Chester, PA
MS Yearsley&Son
114-116 East
Market Street
215-696 2990
West Grove, PA
S G Lewis & Son, Inc
RD 2, Box 66
215-869-2214
Outside MD, 800-331
9122
Westminster, MO
New Holland, Inc
1201 New Windsor Rd
301 857-0711
Outside MD, 800-331
9122
Washington, NJ
Frank Rymon & Sons
201 689-1464