Hi.
I'm Ken White.
I'm the vice president for Extension in Agriculture
at Utah State University.
And I'd like to express my sincere thank you
to Envision Utah for this Common Good Award.
I graciously accept this on behalf of the many Extension
professionals that we have working
every day in the state of Utah.
Some of you may be wondering, what is Extension?
Briefly, Extension is really the mechanism
where we bring the university to every person
in the state of Utah.
We have more than 140 faculty and experts strategically
located throughout the state of Utah.
We have extraordinary people who were
prepared for these extraordinary circumstances.
I'm proud of our response to the pandemic.
Starting in March, we put a communications plan into action
through social media, email, our Extension website, billboards,
and more as we addressed the home, family, finance,
and wellness information people were anxiously searching for.
Farmers Feeding Utah is an excellent example
of our biggest win-win program this past nine months.
Early in the pandemic, farmers were faced with nowhere
to send their commodities, while families were losing income.
Working with the Utah Farm Bureau and others,
we were able to raise money to pay farmers so they could
bring food to Utahans in need.
The program was a miracle for farmers whose products
were purchased and for families in need
who received the donated food.
More than 10,000 families were reached
with a half a million pounds of food
purchased from farmers in Utah.
The food giveaway events have taken place
in the Navajo Nations, Northern Utah, West Salt Lake, Vernal,
Uintah, and Weber counties.
The Extension Senior Pop-Up Farmers' Market, a partnership
with Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services,
also delivered more than 6,000 pounds of fresh produce
to local seniors.
In addition to our traditional education areas
of financial security, food safety, emergency preparedness,
agriculture, natural resources, and youth programs,
Extension has added wellness education
to address the opioid crisis and mental health issues
in the state of Utah.
Our Health Extension Advocacy Research and Extension Team,
otherwise referred to as the HEART team,
has raised more than $5 million in national, state,
and local grants to help protect and enrich the lives of Utahans
throughout the state.
In our 4-H youth programs this year,
we had 14,821 youth enrolled and close
to 3,000 adult mentors and volunteers
who supported them in 1,168 4-H clubs
throughout the state of Utah.
Our Discover 4-H curriculum guides were especially popular,
as parents worked to keep their youth engaged
during the quarantine.
The 87 guides on our website received nearly 138,000
downloads from all 50 states and 43 foreign countries.
We've always excelled in agriculture and horticulture,
but this summer, interest in home gardening
increased tenfold in the areas.
And while face-to-face meetings were few,
our agricultural specialists created amazing virtual field
days with more than 150 video presentations.
Though no one could have predicted the vast number
of people working from home this year, in 2018,
Extension did predict that citizens living in rural areas
would find remote work, allowing them
to remain in their communities.
Our award-winning Remote Online Initiative
is a program that teaches online work skills
and connects employers with our rural citizens.
This award ceremony, like many events
we've participated in this year, is virtual.
I'm here to tell you that Extension
is going to be here and serve the people of Utah
virtually, as well as person to person, now and in the future.
Thank you very much.