Extension Connection March 2024

Marketing

Caregiver

Master

to the Issue! Table of Contents

Page 3 Message from the Executive Director

Page 4 Save on Your Energy Bills!

Page 5 Agriculture Newsletter Bulletin

Page 6 October - January DHIA Reports

Page 8 The Horticulture

Hotline

Page 9 CCE Spotlights!

Page 10 Fast Facts!

Page 12 Where Does DEI Go From Here?

Page 14 Real World Examples (from the Community Preventitive Services Task Force)

Page 16 Calling All Caregivers!

Page 18 Public Presentations Help Develop Leadership Skills

Page 19 Thanks to our Sponsors!

Page 20 Caregiver Cafe

The Extension Connection (USPS525100)is published monthlyf or $2500 enrollment by CornellCooperative Extension Sullivan

The Extension Connection (USPS-525-100) is published monthly for $25.00 enrollment by Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County, located at 64 Ferndale-Loomis Road, Suite 1, Liberty, NY 12754-2903. Entered at Liberty, New York, as a periodical class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 412, Act of February 24, 1925. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Extension Connection, 64 Ferndale-Loomis Road, Suite 1, Liberty, NY 12754-2903.

OFFICE HOURS

Hours: Mon - Fri | 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Phone: 845-292-6180

E-mail: sullivan@cornell.edu

Website: www.sullivancce.org

Facebook.com/ccesullivanagfood

Instagram.com/ccesullivan

YouTube: bitly.com/ccesullivan

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dara Smith............................President

Alex Alorro...................Vice President

Robert Kaplan.......................Secretary

Dawn Parsons.......................Treasurer

Brian McPhillips...........Legislative Rep.

Adam Hughes..................Cornell Rep.

Freda Eisenberg

John Garigliano

Amanda Langseder

Denise Luckman

Erika Malmgreen

Steve Marton

Mark McLewin

Gary Silver

Gary Silverman

Nicole Slevin Nikolados

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Heather Brown

Roberta Chambers

Carmela Hugel

Eugene Thalmann

Deborah Worden

EXTENSION CONNECTION

Produced by: Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County

Edited by: Aaron Denman & Colleen Monaghan

Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with DisAbilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

NOTICE: Official endorsement of advertisers and their products is not intended by the acceptance of their sponsorships for the Extension Connection.

STAFF MEMBERS

Colleen Monaghan..............................................................................Executive Director

Taylor Adam.............................................................Beginner Farmer Program Manager

Monica Ponce-Agredano ...............................................................Ag. Program Assistant

SueAnn Boyd.........................................................Healthy Schools Program Coordinator

Tracy Broyles...............................................................................SALT Program Manager

Alan Carroll...................................................................Food Systems Program Manager

Lynn Colavito..............................................Community Cupboard Program Coordinator

Martin Colavito...........................................................Prevention Programs Issue Leader

Haley Collins...................Agriculture Farmland Protection & Planning Program Manager

Wanda V. Cruz...............................................Healthy Communities Program Coordinator

Erin Doherty......................................................................Preventions Program Educator

Eugene Doyle...................................................................................................Custodian

Katie Gasior.................................................................Horticulture Program Coordinator

Christopher Jones..............................................................Taste NY Operations Manager

Joy Leon.................................................................Nutrition & Physical Activity Educator

Katie Rose Lugauer...................................................................4-H Program Coordinator

Erica Lynch..........................................................Catskills Kitchen Program Coordinator

John Mastrangelo............................................................................Assistant Ag Market Manager

Nancy McGraw....................................Caregiver Resource Center Program Coordinator

Melinda Meddaugh.......................................................Ag & Food Systems Issue Leader

Vivian Monsanto...............................................................................Finance Coordinator

Barbara Moran................................................4-H Youth Development Program Manager

Bee Moser............................................................................................Senior Nutritionist

Patricia Ocasio.................................................................Preventions Program Coordinator

Shanice Owens..............................................Community Cupboard Program Coordinator

Vanessa Petrossian...........................Program Director: Operations and Community Vitality

Abyssinia Pla El...................................................................................Finance Coordinator

Michelle Proscia..............................................Agriculture Production Program Manager

Ann-Marie Sidtis............................................Drug Free Communities Program Assistant

Tara VanHorn.........................................................................................Finance Manager

Malinda Ware........................................................................................Program Director

John Wilcox..........................................................................................Facilities Manager

Vinny Bonizzi, Kayla Evans......................................................................Ag Market Coordinators

Dear friends of Extension,

First, thank you to our enrollees for your patience as we worked to get this month’s Extension Connection magazine out to you. Our beloved Operations Coordinator Aaron Denman has left CCE Sullivan for a wonderful growth opportunity at SUNY Sullivan, and we are still getting used to their absence!

On the heals of our 2023 Annual Report to the Community, we want to send a big thank you to all the association’s annual donors. Individual donors supply mostly unrestricted funds to the association that help us close budget gaps not covered by prescribed grants and contracts. Funds that help us continue to feed our neighbors through the Sullivan Fresh Community Cupboard mobile food pantry, make necessary repairs at the Extension Education Center, and support positive youth development programming through the 4-H Youth Development Program.

With about half of our funding tied to time limited, competitive grants and contracts, your donations help keep the lights on, ensure we have an administrative staff to support our education and outreach in the areas of agriculture, nutrition, youth, family, and community development, and prevention, and provide a safety net for unforeseen expenses, like when a compressor breaks down on one of our cold storage units! So I’d like to take this moment to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU for making CCE Sullivan a part of your annual giving!

In closing, as the days get longer and we plan our spring and summer programming, we want to remind you that CCE Sullivan is your trusted resource of choice. From garden planning to 4-H Saturdays to the Caregiver Resource Center and monthly Farmer Mixers, we’re here to provide you with vetted information and opportunities to connect with your neighbors across the county to make Sullivan County a great place to live. Reach out to us at 845-292-6180 or sullivan@cornell.edu for all your resource needs, program interests, and referral resources. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Colleen Monaghan Executive Director, cm638@cornell.edu

Save on your energy bills!

Would you like to save on your farm energy bills? There are many opportunities to reduce energy use through efficiency improvements that save money, labor, and maintenance costs. Energy efficiency also has co-benefits, buffering farms from high costs in energy market fluctuations and making it easier to transition to electric

man y also has co-benefits, bufferin g farms from hi g h costs in energy m arket and it p ower an d renewa bl e energy.

energ y

commitment farmers for i mprovements

Ag Energy NY is an extension program helping farmers learn energy efficiency motivations, opportunities, and incentives. This program offers a mobile-friendly website, factsheets, and technical support. Farmers can reach out to the Ag Energy NY team with questions and to connect with farm-specific advising. NYSERDA offers no-cost, nocommitment energy assessments to help farmers prioritize areas for improvements and identify incentives to help with implementation.

For more guidance and support about farm energy efficiency, visit visit www.nyserda.ny.gov/

For more g uidance visit www.agenergyny.org g gy y g

For a no-cost farm energy audit, www.nyserda.ny. g ov/ yyg All-Programs/Agriculture-Energy-Audit g g gy

AGRICULTURE NEWSLETTER BULLETIN

Submitted

by Haley Collins, Agriculture Farmland Protection and Program Manager

We are happy to announce a new development in Sullivan County’s efforts to connect aspiring farmers with available farmland.

Haley Collins (CCE Agriculture Farmland Protection and Program Manager) will be the new regional navigator with Farmland for a New Generation New York, specifically serving Sullivan County and the Hudson Valley.

Farmland for a New Generation New York is a program coordinated by American Farmland Trust – in partnership with the State of New York,

agricultural organizations, land trusts, and others –that helps farmers seeking land and landowners who want to keep their land in farming.

The program offers a statewide Resource Center with expert advisers and a website featuring training materials and listings of farmers in search of land as well as land available for farming. Farmland for a New Generation New York also supports a network of Regional Navigators, or partner organizations

with dedicated staff, that provides training and onthe-ground customized support for farmers and landowners in regions across New York.

Farmland for a New Generation New York offers services to help farmland seekers – new farmers and younger generations of farm families – while supporting retiring farmers and other farmland owners in successfully transferring their farms.

DHI Report: December

DHI Report: January

THE HORTICULTURE HOTLINE

Written and submitted by Katie Gasior, Horticulture Program Coordinator

Got a garden question but you’re not sure if you should ask? Not to worry, every question is valid! Take a look below into the types of questions I get on the horticulture hotline!

Incoming Question:

I have Japanese knotweed I am trying to remove off my property. Once it is (hopefully) all removed, what do you suggest I plant in its place?

Answer:

First, congratulations to you if you are able to remove this tenacious invasive species! I’m sure it was not easy. Once the Japanese knotweed is removed, and the roots have been smothered, I would suggest planting native species in their place. You can plant a ground cover crop, shrubs, flowers or trees. Planting native species not only helps support native insect pollinators and birds but supports biodiversity and ecological resilience in the face of climate change and invasive species. Some suggestions

of natives you might plant in the now empty space are: Pennsylvania Sedge, Trumpet Honeysuckle, creeping Phlox, Bee balm, black eyed Susan’s, sunflowers, coneflowers, dogwood (flowering, pagoda, or red-twig), beech tree, Birch (Grey, Black, or River), or Oak trees (White, Red, Pin).

If you have a question for the horticulture hotline, please reach out to (845) 292-6180 ext. 123 or sullivan@cornell. edu.

CCE Sullivan Spotlights

Staff Spotlight

INTRODUCING ERIN DOHERTY

Erin is a Prevention Program Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County Originally from Otisville, NY, Erin Doherty attended Minisink Valley High School, and eventually went to Orange County Community College and SUNY New Paltz to receive her Bachelor’s in Media production. Erin helped work on several local productions around the Hudson Valley such as HBO Max, Hallmark, and more. Erin previously worked at Fox News in Manhattan.

Erin loves to get into video games, and creative writing whenever she can. She hopes to learn Japanese, Italian, and ASL within the near future. Erin enjoys spending time with her family, her fiancé Alexander Haynes, and her nieces and nephews.

Erin also loves working with kids, as she previously helped coach children in swim lessons from an early age until high school.

Staff Spotlight

INTRODUCING HALEY COLLINS

Haley is an Agriculture Farmland Protection & Planning Program Manager at Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County. Raised in the southern Appalachian Mountains of Floyd, Virginia, Haley developed a love for gardening alongside her family. Venturing west, she cultivated a passion for sustainable agriculture through working on farms in Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and even overseas in the Alps of France. In Asheville, North Carolina, Haley established a small foodbank system that supported students and their families. From there, her commitment to food systems work extended into working as an intern with The Farmlink Project, a youth-led nonprofit working to eliminate food waste and supporting food banks around the country. Haley also graduated at the top of her class with a degree in Environmental Planning and Community Regional Development from the University of New Mexico. Her hobbies include yoga, hiking, gardening and baking as well as spending time with her partner and two dogs.

Staff Spotlight

INTRODUCING PATRICIA OCASIO

Patricia Ocasio is a Prevention Program Coordinator at Cornell Cooperative Extension. She has a bachelor’s in theology, from The American Bible Institute and CME certifications in peer counseling. Patricia has worked for Catskill Regional Medical Center as an Emergency Room Technician; she was also employed at Sun River Healthcare for 4 years as a Youth Outreach Coordinator. She has also worked for Hudson Valley Community Services for 11 years as a Prisons Services Coordinator and a Women’s Services Coordinator. On her offtime Patricia enjoys walks in the trails of Sullivan County, loves music and enjoys home decorating as well as seasonal thrifting. Patricia’s passion stems from a belief that we are all here to serve one another as a community, and that a community no matter the size will always need each other.

March Focus: Fast Facts, Cool Tools, & News to Use

March 1st is National Pig Day!

The average weight of domestic pigs is between 300 and 700 pounds, although certain breeds can weigh less or more.

ALL Family Farm is a family-oriented farm specializing in pasture raised Berkshire pork in Middletown. Operated by Nathan and Misty Allnach, ALL Family Farm is the place to get local and delicious pork!

The rst domesticated pigs were introduced to the United States by Christopher Columbus in 1493. 35 years later, the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto also brought hogs to the New World—by some estimates as many as 300! Over time, domesticated pigs escaped their enclosures and established wild pig populations across the continent. Today, the greatest concentrations of wild pigs in the U.S. are in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and California.

The largest wild pig is the giant forest hog, which can grow up to 6.6 feet long. And the heaviest is the Eurasian wild pig, which can reach a whopping 710 pounds.

We don’t think of pigs as being very speedy. But domestic pigs can actually run as fast as 11 miles per hour, and wild boars can run even faster at 15 miles per hour.

There are hundreds of breeds of wild and domestic pigs in the world. In the United States, there are eight major breeds of domesticated swine. Yorkshires are the most common, and they’re the pigs that you probably envision—pinkish white with erect ears and long bodies.

Pigs don’t have great vision, but they make up for it with an impressive sense of smell. In the wild, they use their snouts to sniff out tasty tubers and roots on the forest floor. They smell so well that some truffle hunters bring pigs with them to help them root out the valuable (and delicious) fungi.

Located in Mountain Dale, Majestic Farm is another familyoriented farm growing pastureraised pork in Sullivan County! They also specialize in poultry and organic boutique apples and have four airbnb sites for camping!

Sources:

“Pasture Raised Berkshire Pork: All Family Farm: United States.” Allfamilyfarm.com, ALL Family Farm, 7 June 2022, www.allfamilyfarm.com/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.

“Majestic Farm.” Majesticfarm.Com, Majestic Farm, 2023, majesticfarm.com/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2024.

“12 Fun Facts about Pigs.” Bartonhillfarms.Com, Barton Hill Farms, 25 Oct. 2022, bartonhillfarms. com/12-fun-facts-about-pigs/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2024

WHERE DOES DEI GO FROM HERE? (PART I)

FOSTERING FOUR FREEDOMS CAN BENEFIT EMPLOYEES AND COMPANIES ALIKE.

Written by Laura Morgan Roberts

Submitted by Malinda Ware, Program Director and Chair of Association DEI Committee

In the summer of 2020, spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement and pandemic inequities, organizations in the United States and around the world committed to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their ranks. Today, however, amid economic uncertainty, corporate belt-tightening, and virulent campaigns to dismantle diversity efforts through both court rulings and legislation, the push for DEI has slowed. Now more than ever, it’s time for companies to recommit.

To bring advocates and critics of this work together, leaders must orient around a broader goal: creating the conditions for all workers to flourish. Data on employee engagement underscores this challenge for organizations. Gallup estimates that 77% of employees are unengaged at work and reports that worker stress is at a historic high, costing

the global economy $8.8 trillion. Union organizing across U.S. industries is highlighting the fact that many workers feel exploited or undervalued. Tens of millions of employees in the U.S. and more around the world switched jobs in the Great Resignation, and many others are quiet quitting or burning out. These kinds of trends lead to higher hiring costs and poorer performance, specifically diminished creativity and innovation. And there is evidence that those in historically marginalized groups are even less engaged than their dominant-group counterparts are.

In the past, corporate attempts to boost employee well-being have ranged from ping-pong tables to job crafting. But employers need to take a new tack that addresses the root of so many issues facing workers today. My research in the fields of positive psychology and diversity and inclusion leads me to believe that to truly engage each and every employee, and to help them feel validated and rewarded, organizations need to cultivate four freedoms that allow people to bring their full humanity to work.

The four freedoms that generate flourishing at work are: being

our authentic selves, becoming our best selves, occasionally fading into the background, and failing in ways that help us and our teams learn. While everyone can benefit from more freedom at work, these four are unevenly distributed. Majority and high-status group members often (though not always) have access to them and often (though not always) take them for granted. Meanwhile, for many in traditionally marginalized groups — people of color, women, those who are gender nonconforming, people with physical disabilities, and those who are experiencing mental health challenges, for example — the struggle for liberation is contested daily.

To be sure, it can feel strange to talk about freedom in the context of the workplace, but it shouldn’t. Around the world there is a history of forced labor, from the enslavement of humans on plantations to laborers in sweatshops, apartheid-era mines, or even Taylorist assembly lines. In many industries and parts of the world, people still work in such oppressive conditions. Even in the modern knowledge economy, employees struggle with fears — of failure, lack of safety, and scarcity of resources

and opportunities — that undermine their feelings of freedom at work and negatively impact their performance and well-being.

By contrast, companies that have worked to make the four freedoms accessible — through structural changes such as policies and resource allocation, cultural shifts, and individual development — have seen enhanced productivity and increased feelings of satisfaction and safety among employees, particularly those in historically marginalized groups.

The fact is, liberating workers is not a zero-sum game; granting freedoms to one group does not

inherently take them away from another. The collective pursuit of the four freedoms thus benefits everyone, as well as the business itself.

The Four Freedoms.....To be continued in our next issue.

Adapted from:

Roberts, Laura Morgan. “Where Does DEI Go From Here?” Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Publishing, 14 Sept. 2023, hbr.org/2023/09/wheredoes-dei-go-from-here?ab=at_art_ art_1x4_s01. Accessed 16 Feb. 2024.

TheCommunityPreventiveServicesTaskForce’sBuilt EnvironmentRecommendationtoIncreasePhysicalActivity

REAL-WORLDEXAMPLES

Whatistherecommendationfromthe CommunityPreventiveServicesTaskForce?

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends built environment approaches that combine one or more interventions to improve transportation systems (activity-friendly routes) with one or more land use and community design interventions (everyday destinations) to increase physical activity.

Activity-FriendlyRoutes

Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Transit Transportation Systems

♦ An activity-friendly route is one that is a direct and convenient connection with everyday destinations, offering physical protection from cars, and making it easy to cross the street.

♦ Components to consider for intervention include:

» Street pattern design and connectivity

» Pedestrian infrastructure

» Bicycle infrastructure

» Public transit infrastructure and access

Howdoyoucombinethesetwocategories?

Whatarecombinedbuiltenvironment interventionapproaches?

Combined approaches that connect activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations make it safe and convenient for people of all abilities to walk, run, bike, skate, or use wheelchairs.

EverydayDestinations

Land Use and Environmental Design

♦ Everyday destinations are places people can get to from where they live by walking, bicycling, or public transit. This can include grocery stores, schools, worksites, libraries, parks, restaurants, cultural and natural landmarks, or healthcare facilities. They are often desirable, useful, and attractive.

♦ Components to consider for intervention include:

» Mixed land use

» Increased residential density

» Community or neighborhood proximity

» Parks and recreational facility access

There are many ways to implement this recommendation. The chart on the next page shows several real-world examples of combined built environment approaches. These examples illustrate how activity-friendly routes have been linked with everyday destinations in communities across the nation.

Whyweretheseexamplesselected?

The following chart includes examples from urban and rural locations in diverse parts of the country. Examples range from very simple, small-scale, low-cost built environment changes to more complex, large-scale, resource-intensive changes spanning entire communities. The green arrow to the left of the chart depicts this range. The chart illustrates how each example aligns with the new recommendation, but some have not been evaluated for their impact on physical activity, and none were included in the 90 studies that the Task Force reviewed to develop the new recommendation. The range of these examples offers every community ideas for how it can start implementing combined approaches according to their setting, budget, and scale of work.

Howmuchchangeinthebuiltenvironmentis enoughtoincreasephysicalactivity?

The recommendation includes a small number of studies (12 out of 90) showing increases in physical activity associated with very smallscale interventions, such as crosswalks, traffic signals, or bike racks. However, the Task Force did not specify a minimum threshold for the scale of change required to increase physical activity. Communities are encouraged to start where they can and then build toward larger scale improvements to increase physical activity.

For more information about the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommendation, visit www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/physical-activity-builtenvironment-approaches and www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/ community-strategies

Activity-FriendlyRoutesEverydayDestinations

Real-WorldExample

The city of El Paso, TX created a walking route between the Union Plaza District and the Downtown Arts District. These destinations of cultural and economic activity were previously divided by a locked parking lot that prohibited public and pedestrian access.

A neighborhood in St. Louis, MO reduced average vehicle speed by using traffic calming techniques in a busy area served by four bus stops. This improved access to buses during the day, which connected residents to community destinations

In Weslaco, TX, students, school officials, and the city public works department partnered to paint a new crosswalk to connect the school to the community and the surrounding neighborhood.

In Los Angeles, CA, the Watts neighborhood designed a visitor’s center at the train station in a historic building along with a network of walking paths with public art to promote pedestrian traffic between the metrorail public transit stop and cultural sites.

With the mayor, more than 100 community volunteers in Cuba, NM constructed or improved 9.5 miles of trails with landscaping including shade trees, benches, parking areas, and signage. Each trail attracts different users—two trails connect the village to the Santa Fe National Forest.

The city of Hernando, MS obtained grant funding to revitalize an old road connecting the middle and high schools that had been blocked off for years. This new pathway opened a safe route to school and allows more residents to use a newly surfaced track.

In Atlanta, GA, the BeltLine is converting abandoned railway into a combination of trails, parks, light rail transit, high-density residential buildings, and commercial development. Expected to eventually cover 22 miles of pathway, the BeltLine will connect 45 neighborhoods and Atlanta's council districts.

To improve public access to the waterfront in Houghton, MI, this remote city in the Upper Peninsula gradually acquired a stretch of shoreline property and replaced industrial ruins with parks, marinas, and paved bicycle/pedestrian trails which now connect the city center to parks and residential districts.

For more information about the Community Preventive Services Task Force recommendation, visit www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/physical-activity-built-environment-approaches and www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/community-strategies

CALLING ALL CAREGIVERS!

Written and submitted by Nancy McGraw, Caregiver Resource Center Program Coordinator

New York ranks #4 in the nation in the number of individuals aged 60 and over, at 4.6 million. By 2030, this population is expected to reach 5.3 million. “This population brings enormous economic, social and cultural value to their communities” (NYS Master Plan on Aging, 2023). The economic value of the contributions of older adults volunteering in New York state is $13.8 billion.

With this rise in population on the horizon, the presence of caregivers will become more important than ever

before. Did you know that one in five adults are caregivers? Caregivers provide regular care or assistance to a friend or family member with a health problem or disability.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than two-thirds of caregivers of family members/friends with dementia have been providing them care for at least two years, and more than one-third of them provide 20 or more hours of care per week. Nearly 25%

(1 in 4) dementia caregivers are caring for both someone with dementia and a child or grandchild; coming to be known as the “sandwich generation.”

In Sullivan County, 2020 prevalence estimates of Alzheimer’s-related Dementia is 10.4%, or approximately 1,500 individuals age 65 and over. This is compared to 12.7% statewide prevalence estimates (based on data from Dhana et al., Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 2023).

All of this means that the need for additional services to support caregivers and those they are caring for are growing as the population ages. A significant number of Sullivan County residents and their families need additional health-related and social supports to continue caring for their loved ones to help them remain at home as long as possible.

The Caregiver Resource Center wants to help advocate for these supportive services, but to do so requires the input of Sullivan County residents. There are two ways you can provide your input:

The Master Plan for Aging online survey: https:// forms.ny.gov/s3/mpasurvey and by attending our upcoming forum (more information on that can be found below).

Sullivan County Alzheimer’s Community Forum, Wednesday, April 3, 2024 from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm at Cornell Cooperative Extension, 64 FerndaleLoomis Rd., Liberty, NY 12754.

Attend this Community Forum to share your experience with Alzheimer’s Disease and discuss how the Alzheimer’s Association, Sullivan County Office for the Aging and the CCE Sullivan’s Caregiver Resource Center can help enhance care and support resources for those facing the disease. Registration is required by Friday, March 29. To register, please call 1-800-272-3900, contact Jess Flores at jmflores@alz.org, or contact the Extension office at 845-292-6180 ext. 122; we will get you registered.

Sources:

Alzheimer’s Association, “2023 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures Report: At a Glance Statistics.” Fact sheet based on Dhana et al., Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 2023.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2019), (https:// www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.html).

NYS Master Plan on Aging, (2023). Retrieved from https:// www.ny.gov/programs/ new-york-states-master-plan-aging.

We want to hear from you.

PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS HELP DEVELOP LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Written and submitted by

Barbara Moran, 4-H Youth Development Program Manager

Effective public speaking skills are very important when developing life skills. Presentation, clear speaking, and effective communication are necessary to develop skills for running a club, speaking in school, presenting for a committee meeting, or leading younger children. 4-H Public Presentations offers a safe and comfortable setting to develop these skills.

Let’s talk about some important activities that go along with Public Presentations. Life skills such as organizing your thoughts, adapting information, coming up with creative ideas, setting goals and evaluating your own work are just a few of the skills that youth develop alongside their projects. I encourage all 4H participants aged 5-18 years of age to present at the local level.