OSU Growing January-February 2017

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Januay-February 2017 Volume 37, Issue 1

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #115 Albany, OR

Extending Knowledge and Changing Lives in Linn and Benton Counties May 2014

Arial Bold 12pt Old Armory, Fourth & Lyon, Albany, Oregon 97321

541-967-3871

Hoecker Endowment Keeps on Giving to Extension Residents of Newport, Ore., may be a little more aware of where to go in case a tsunami strikes, thanks in part to an Oregon State University Extension Hoecker Innovative Grant. Oregon K-12 students may be a little more likely to eat their fruits and vegetables, again thanks to a Hoecker grant. And minority populations in Ontario, Ore., may be a little more likely to go for a walk, again thanks in part to the Hoecker family. Increasing the awareness of tsunami evacuation routes, stimulating healthy eating, and encouraging minorities to walk in rural communities are examples of how the Hoecker family has partnered with Oregon State University Extension Service over the past 15 years to benefit Oregonians. They also serve as examples of what Scott Reed, director of Extension, characterized as a new model for Extension. The Hoecker Innovative Grants Program, established in 2001 from an endowment created by the Hoecker family, has its origins in

Photo byMitch Lies

By Mitch Lies, GrowinG Editor

Peggy and Ken Hoecker, at their north Albany home, have represented the Hoecker family in the family’s Innovative Grants program for the past fifteen years.

a decision by Dale and Alice Hoecker, both now deceased, to donate a house in Eugene to OSU for the purpose of establishing an endowment to benefit Extension. Dale Hoecker, a longtime 4-H Extension agent for OSU, determined that

InsIdE:

creating an endowment was better than extending a onetime gift, said Ken and Peggy Hoecker of North Albany, the family’s representatives. “I really praise my parents-in-law’s foresight to have donated this house, which eventually was sold, and from which the

endowment was created,” said Peggy. “By creating the endowment, rather than just giving money, it continues to give and benefit OSU Extension,” Ken said. Initially, the endowment’s sole purpose was to award outstanding achievements

by Extension agents. Today, in addition to awarding achievements, the endowment is used to fund the Hoecker Innovative Grants program. “The structure of the awards has changed over the years,” Ken Hoecker said. “Extension has come to us and made suggestions as to how to shape the awards, and we have agreed to their suggestions. What they wanted to do always seemed very reasonable.” Today the Hoecker grants benefit Extension in two primary fashions, Reed said. “One is the recognition that the award generates,” he said. “They generate peer understanding and respect for some of the real progressive Extension programs that have significant accomplishments. “The second major advantage is they stimulate innovation and encourage faculty to think about doing things in innovative ways, or address an emergent issue in a way that is untested,” Reed said. The grants, according to the program’s guidelines, “address a high priority need of an Oregon target audience

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sign up now for pruning classes. ORGA Annual meeting January 18. Master Food Preserver volunteers sought. LCEA Annual dinner February 22.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/linn

January/February 2017 —

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