UGA Extension Office

Our Impact

Making A Difference in Our County

University of Georgia Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES

Obesity is one of the most serious health problems for children in the United States. Baldwin County ranks 124 out of 159 counties in Georgia as one of the worst counties in overall health. In Georgia, 14.9 % of youth ages 10 to 17 have obesity, giving Georgia a rank of 24 among the 50 states. Nutrition and physical activity knowledge, consistent access to healthy foods, and skills to prepare healthy food are necessary to improve the nutrition and physical activity behavior of youth and their families.

The FACS Agent collaborated with the 4-H Staff to offer summer programming highlighting nutrition. During the Summer Fun Day Series, we offered a “Fun in the Kitchen” and a “Healthy Food Lab” class. During the class, youth learned how to prepare and cook food properly, how to prepare nutritious and healthy meals, how to work safely in the kitchen, and proper knife cutting.

4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

The 4-H Youth Development Program in Baldwin serves youth from 9 to 17 years of age helping them to reach their fullest individual potential as emerging adults contributing to society. The 4-H staff offers the core programs of Georgia 4-H to include in-school club meetings, 4-H summer camp, Project Achievement, and State 4-H Council. In-school club meetings offer relevant curriculum to enrich the educational standards for fourth and fifth graders. Students in sixth through 12th grade can participate in the Baldwin County 4-H County Council, where student officers lead the meeting utilizing parliamentary procedure and provide updates and information to 4-H’ers about the different activities’ students can get involved in. In 2022 we served over 600 youth in STEM programs, Fun Days, and Project Clubs. They also engaged in community service projects, healthy living, and leadership.

AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

The Georgia 4-H Horse program provides students across the state the opportunity to engage in many educational opportunities. In an effort to provide local, hands-on, and interactive equine opportunities to complement state events, the Jones/Baldwin County ANR Agent, former Monroe County ANR Agent, and Pike County ANR Agent established the Ocmulgee Region 4-H Horse Club for students to receive more in-depth equine education and broaden their scope of the horse industry. A total of 25 4-H’ers from six counties participated in the program, and 50% of students indicated their county program did not offer horse programming. Seven educational topics were covered quarterly in the year long program. After completing the program, 92% of participants indicated that the information gained from the club expanded their view of the horse industry.

Download Our Annual Report (pdf)