Extension Service Offers Volunteer Opportunities

Finding reliable resources on health and wellness information can be a challenge. Since 1906, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has provided Texans with guidance in various health areas and is now training volunteers to provide more communities with the education and tools needed for healthy living.

The Master Wellness Volunteer Initiative is an AgriLife Extension program that provides volunteers with 40 hours of training in health and nutrition education. In return, the volunteers agree to give back 40 hours of service. In 2016 four Wise County residents earned the designation as Master Wellness Volunteers: Sylvia Elenburg, Karen Shawn, Cristina Cantu, and Connie Swain. In 2017 we are looking to train more volunteers so that additional Wise County residents can be reached with high-quality, relevant education that encourages lasting and effective change.

So, what exactly is a Master Wellness Volunteer?  Let’s start by defining wellness. Wellness is a state of health that doesn’t just involve the absence of an illness. It encompasses a person’s physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and financial well-being. It is my job as the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Family and Consumer Sciences agent to promote wellness for our community through teaching others.  Master Wellness Volunteers will have that same opportunity!

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has many programs for everyday folks to deliver to anyone.  Master Wellness Volunteers can help teach classes to any age group about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables.  They can serve as Walk Across Texas site managers.  Love to cook? Master Wellness Volunteers can assist with or provide healthy recipe demonstrations for people at various programs. The opportunities are endless.

Being a Master Wellness Volunteer doesn’t have to mean getting up in front of people and teaching a class. It can also mean helping with administrative tasks, like helping to register people for programming, entering important data into computers that is gathered from AgriLife Extension programs, and designing newsletters or flyers. There is a something for everyone!

What’s in it for you? General H. Norman Schwarzkopf certainly knew about the side of humanity that longs for self-fulfillment when he stated, “you cannot help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself.” The Master Wellness Volunteer program offers this sense of fulfillment with every hour of service donated.

Volunteer training will be held on the following dates: February 7, 23 and March 7 and 3 days study at home/online. For an application and more information, please contact Wise County’s Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office at 940/627-3341 or e-mail ttdavis@ag.tamu.edu.