Message from the Executive Director

Hello friends of Extension and happy summer!

We’re so pleased restrictions are relaxing and the weather is beautiful. It’s really nice to start bringing our 4-H Youth Development programs on the road in partnership with libraries across the county. Keep your eyes peeled for Yarn Storming and Crafty Kids programs where young people can swing by the library and pick up free packages with “Take and Make” activities to keep them occupied through the dog days of summer with fun, hands-on learning projects. The Sullivan County Youth Fair will take place August 13-15 in partnership with the Grahamsville Little World’s Fair. We have a host of animal and still exhibits that our young people have been caring for and crafting. Please come out to support Sullivan County kids. They can tell you all about their dairy and beef cows, pigs, poultry, alpacas, rabbits, and more! Like every year, we’ll fill the Youth Building with exhibits, community and CCE program information, and farm and food products produced or processed in Sullivan County and New York State. We received some feedback that missed the mark in last month’s Extension Connection. June was Dairy Month and while we spotlighted one of Sullivan County’s youngest up and coming dairy farmers on the cover, Rianne Erlwein, people were looking for more content recognizing the amazing gift that our local dairy farmers bring to our community. We celebrated on social media, and have pasted some snapshots of those posts on page 6. CCE is proud to have purchased more than $8,500 in Sullivan County dairy products for our Sullivan Fresh initiatives since May, and we look forward to making sure that our friends and neighbors across the county continue to have access to the freshest, tastiest dairy products on earth! The Sullivan Fresh Farmers’ Markets started their fourth season last month. Visit http://sullivancce.org/agriculture/sullivan-fresh for the locations and schedule! As usual, the Sullivan Fresh Community Cupboard continues to deliver meals right to our neighbors’ doors. If you, a friend, or neighbor, are experiencing food insecurity, please email sullivan@cornell.edu or call 845-596-0075 to learn how to connect to nourishment and hope through this program. Also, please help me welcome the newest member of the CCE team, Sullivan Fresh and Shop Taste NY Program Coordinator Fabio Campanati! Look out for him in one of our Sullivan Fresh vans, or fulfilling your ShopTasteNY.com online orders. Welcome, Fabio! As noted last month, we are slowly opening the building to the public. Groups can email sullivan@cornell.edu or call 845-292-6180 to reserve space in our updated classrooms. CCE and 4-H programs take priority use and thereafter community groups are first come, first served.

While the last year has been difficult, through our conservative measures, a combination of closing our indoor facilities (the Turtle Spring Nature & Fitness Trail has remained opened to the public), moving programs and office hours online, and even suspending indoor group activities,

we avoided spreading a potentially lethal virus among community members while making sure our most vulnerable neighbors received sustaining nourishment.

Yes, we had to adjust to a new working and outreach environment. With Board of Directors’ guidance and approval we shifted our program priorities almost solely to teaching our senior aged constituency how to connect in a virtual world, and food access issues, serving more than 300,000 meals over the last 400+ days, and supporting more than a dozen farmers’ markets. According to the New York State Contact Tracing Initiative, CCE and the Sullivan Fresh Community Cupboard, is still the ONLY program in Sullivan County delivering groceries to individuals and families in COVID quarantine and isolation. Yes, it was awkward and painful at times. That said, our mission is to be a trusted resource of science-based information and outreach from the land grant university system, and the science says we did our small part to protect the community by implementing meeting restrictions. I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done and continue to do in our everchanging environment. CCE staff are still cycling in and out of the building as we test new ways of working and serving the public. You can ring the doorbell if you stop by to drop off soil samples or to say hello. Program staff continue to be available for in-person check-ins by appointment, and via phone and email. Next month, we’ll publish office hours for each program area, so you’ll know the best days to see the subject matter expert(s) you seek to chat with without a formal appointment. In closing, please take my most sincere gratitude for the overwhelming moral and financial support. CCE is charged with being responsive to emerging issues, and we can’t do that without the community’s blessing and backing. You make us strong and that is incredibly touching. Until next month, stay hydrated, eat well, and sit with gratitude that we are moving towards better days.

, Best,

Colleen Monaghan ll h Executive Director cm638@cornell.edu