Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact on the county over the past year.
4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
4-H promotes positive youth development through resources and programming that teach leadership, citizenship, STEM, and community service. In Henry County, 4-H offers a variety of clubs for different age groups, such as Horse Club, Dog Club, Robotics, Cloverbuds, and SAFE Shooting sports. Henry County 4-H also provides opportunities to learn life skills and career readiness through our judging teams and statewide activities, some of which include Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging, Junior and Senior Conference, District Project Achievement, and State Council.
In 2024, Henry County 4-H reached around 2,500 5th graders through our in-school club meetings, where our 4-H staff teach programs each month that coincide with the science and ELA standards. 79% of the elementary schools in the county participated in our in-school programming, which is a 25% increase from 2023. For Cloverleaf Project Achievement, our public speaking competition for 4th- 6th graders, 22 students participated and 11 of them placed in their categories. For District Project Achievement, our public speaking competition for 7th-12th graders, 4 students participated and all of them placed in their categories. The Henry County Shotgun Team was awarded the Daniel Defense Foundation Grant in which they received targets, ammunition, earplugs, and safety glasses. During County Council meetings, our 4-H'ers have participated each month in a different community service project. This year they have made 115 Christmas cards for local senior centers, made 35 dog toys for the Henry County Animal Initiative, 50 holiday baskets created for A Friend's House, and 859 canned food items collected and donated to Helping in His Name. In our 4-H programs, Henry County strives to reach a wide range of people and an estimated 60% of our participants in clubs and events during the 2024-2025 program year come from a minority group.
AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Agriculture and Natural Resources personnel provide research-based information on agriculture and natural resources to all residents. They assisted homeowners, farmers, and landowners by providing educational seminars and virtual webinars on many topics, including landscaping, controlling invasive species, protecting native pollinators, and managing soil fertility. Educational programming is developed and designed to assist individuals in making sound economic and environmental decisions that affect everyday life.
In 2024, the UGA Extension Henry County ANR section received 147 walk-ins, 394 phone calls, 461 emails, 1193 emails from citizens with home gardening questions and concerns, and 102 insect, disease, and plant identification samples. The Extension office also processed 400 soil samples.
UGA Extension Henry County has 55 active Master Gardener Extension Volunteers who contributed 3,320 hours, which are worth $99,448 in 2024. For the 2024 annual Master Gardener Class, Henry County had 10 interns who completed the program.
UGA Extension Henry County hosted 11 monthly ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions for homeowners with 200 participants. The educational programs covered various topics such as vegetable gardening, backyard chickens, and composting.
UGA Extension held a Journeyman Farmers Certificate Program consisting of the Small Farm Business Planning section, with the UGA Small Business Development Center providing instructions for 12 participants, and the Small Fruit and Vegetable Production section with 14. A post-class survey was sent out via Qualtrics. For the Small Farm Business Planning section, 100% of the participants indicated they would implement the subject material learned. One participant commented, “The program has given me the tools to track operations and finances on my farm successfully.” For the Small Fruit and Vegetable Production, 100% indicated the subject matter they learned in the Journeyman Farmers Certificate Program, and 75% would make changes to their farming operations. One comment said, ‘I learned the importance of soil fertility and why it should be tested periodically. Doing so will help improve the productivity of my farm.”
Henry County farm gate value is $15,384.577.
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
Henry County Extension continues to take a multi-faceted approach to obesity by regularly providing information (e.g., health and wellness classes, classes focusing on physical activity, healthy eating, and healthy food choices) for direct education, behavioral changes, and environmental changes to improve the overall health of the community. These efforts target the prevention of obesity-related chronic conditions, like heart disease and stroke, cancer, and diabetes.
During the summer months, Henry County Extension holds a weekly farmers market. The Agent offers nutritional information and healthy recipes to customers to use with their local produce. The agent also conducts monthly healthy eating and exercise programs at the three senior centers in the County. Approximately 112 attended for the year.
The agent also conducted three food preservation classes, with 29 participants making blueberry jam and pepper jelly. The county agent also instructed 50 participants in the ServSafe Food Managers course.
The Walk-a-Weigh program provided nutritional information to 8 participants. The agent also demonstrated the preparation of a healthy recipe each week. Over eight weeks, participants walked two miles together weekly. Ninety percent of the evaluations indicated a very likely to adopt new positive behaviors and habits in the future, especially walking 30 minutes daily. One participant said, "This program was a game changer for me. It helped me be more accountable in terms of my exercise goals." The Walk-a-Weigh program was so well-received that the County Manager asked the Agent to conduct Walking Wednesdays for county employees with 30 participants.