Comments support OSU Extension programs, 4-H

Presenter: Public comments Tuesday morning made the case for supporting 4-H and Oregon State University Extension programs in Lane County. Before commissioners Feb. 3, Emma Branson:

Emma Branson: Hi, my name is Emma Branson, and I’m currently a first-year, first-generation student at the University of Oregon. However, I grew up in Springfield and participated in Lane County 4-H for my whole life. 

I participated in projects like animals, like goats, rabbits, Guinea pigs, poultry, and market projects, as well as horticulture, photography, communications, baking, and so much more.

As a teenager, I became part of the Lane County 4-H Ambassador Team as president, and all of these programs provided nearly unlimited hands-on opportunities for learning and growth that aren’t feasible in public school classrooms. 

These 4-H projects taught me responsibility, empathy, resourcefulness, and confidence, all aspects of my personality that now help me succeed in college and in the community.

Also my experiences on the ambassador team and with mandatory community service projects instilled empathy in me because I had the opportunity to connect with people and animals in need right here in Lane County. 

While the projects I mentioned were all fun and interesting, it wasn’t until I graduated from the 4-H program this last year that I realized how special the community is. I built so many social skills like public speaking, empathy and confidence through relationships with so many engaged, enthusiastic kids like me. 

I attribute so much of my love for learning to not just the 4-H program, but the community and all the support that I’ve got from them. The Lane County 4-H community shapes kids into hardworking, responsible young adults.

I’m now in college pursuing my bachelor’s degree in environmental studies. I’m excited to apply for the OSU Extension Services summer internship in Lane County because I’ll gain even more hands-on experience in forestry, sustainability, small farms, food accessibility and education programs, which I think is an amazing opportunity for a first-year, first-generation local college student like me.

These Extension services invite citizens to invest in our community at whatever capacity they can through local, through research-based local resources. The 4-H program shaped who I am today, my goals for the future, and my role as a Lane County citizen. I believe the 4-H program will continue growing and encourage even more young leaders like myself.

Lane County’s youth and families depend on programs like OSU Extension Services for both the resources and community they provide. 

Abigail Langan: My name is Abigail Langan and I’m a 4-H member. I’ve been involved in 4-H since I was nine years old, and even before that I was a Cloverbud. For as long as I can remember, 4-H has been a huge part of my life. It’s more than just a program. It’s a place where I’ve grown, learned, and become the person I’m today. 

One of my favorite parts of 4-H is leadership. Through this program, I’ve learned to speak up, work with others, and take responsibility. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of 4-H Ambassadors Team where we plan and organize events.

Being an ambassador has taught me a valuable lesson in leadership skills: how to communicate effectively, how to work as a part of a team, and how to take initiative when something needs to be done. These are skills I know I will carry with me for the rest of my life. 

Another experience that has meant a lot to me is attending 4-H summer conference. 

At the conference I get to meet and engage with 4-H members from all over the state. It’s an amazing feeling to be surrounded by people my age who share my excitement about learning and making a difference while we’re there. We take classes that range from fun hobbies to college tours and academic classes.

These experiences have helped me explore my interests and start thinking seriously about my future community service is also a part of 4-H. It’s one of the reasons this program is so special. Through 4-H, I’ve had the chance to give back to my community in meaningful ways.

Whether it’s volunteering, helping out events, or supporting local projects, 4-H has taught me the importance of service. It’s shown me that even small actions can make a big difference, and that being involved in your community truly matters.

4- H isn’t just projects or meetings, it’s about building confident, capable young people. It teaches us life skills like leadership, responsibility, teamwork, and service.

Because of 4-H, I’m more confident in who I am and more prepared for what comes next in my life. As a 17-year-old who has grown up in this program, I can honestly say 4-H changes lives. It has certainly changed mine. I’m proud to be a 4-H member and I’m grateful for the support of my leaders, volunteers, and our community who make programs like this possible. 

Thank you for taking the time to listen and support supporting opportunities to help young people like me lead, grow, and serve. 

Roger Smith: My name is Roger Smith. I live here in Eugene. I became a master food preserver in 2015, California. And became a master food preserver here in Oregon in 2018.

Just some of the things that we do are providing education on the safe methods of food preservation, but associated with that is preparing for local emergencies, like attending and presenting at places like up the McKenzie at their annual preparedness fair. We outreach through Food for Lane County out there.

We’d also work through the grassroots garden, and we also do it at other supported living communities around here. We have workshops in Eugene and Cottage Grove, and there’s also a class scheduled for the Mapleton canning tuna set for August. 

We also presented the small direct-to-consumer farmer community regarding the safe products, such as fermented hot sauces so they can add value-added products to their merchandise line. 

I’m here today to ask you to place this levy on the ballot so that we can spread the word in the community of the great work that is done by OSU extension and how it is truly a good investment of their tax dollars.

Patricia Maisch: I am Patricia Maisch and I became a master food preserver in 2019, and I’m also a pantry food hero volunteer, and I’m here to talk about the food pantries. It’s my favorite program. I really love it. I loved interacting with the people in the community through food. 

Okay, so the Pantry Food Hero program has existed as a partnership with Food for Lane County for over 20 years, starting in 2003.

Our volunteers are trained to provide healthy recipes, samples at food pantries. They typically have good -great cooking skills to share with pantry shoppers and hope that they will use the ingredients and the products that are available, the health ingredients and products that are available at the pantries. We also discuss the nutrition value of the recipes and the individual ingredients necessary. 

Right at our peak and I lived the glory days, we had 44 active volunteers that went to 26 different sites. I remember we used to get together twice a month and prepare more than 10 pantry boxes that were, they take the materials today, you know, the pantry places.

Now since the pandemic, we have struggled to rebuild. It’s been hard because many of the volunteers retired and then the pantries changed the way they operated. So  it made it hard when they just, you know, you drive and pick up your books and run away, right. Okay. 

Also, the problem now that we have is that the sunsetting of the federal SNAP Ed grant this last year has taken the funding for the program.

And we are now down to two volunteers, me and another lady, and we go only to three pantries. I go to two I love so much. So this tax levy would hopefully allow us to rehire a coordinator who would rebuild, help us rebuild the program to its former glory. 

Patty Driscoll: My name is Patty Driscoll. I’ve been a volunteer in the Master Garden program since 1993, became a master food preserver in 2007.

I retired from OSU Extension Service. I worked for them from 2007-2022. At that time, I was asked by our 4-H Ambassador Team to stay on and be their advisor, which I am proud to do, and it’s great to see Emma and Abby here speaking before you and I could stand up here and give you numbers and impact statements of what we’ve done in the community.

But what I want to talk about what I’ve seen through the years of the option levy. In 1998, it was passed. The Lane County Board of Commissioners rolled it into the general fund in the 2000s and said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Slowly they started to nibble away at it, and finally we had no funding and we had to go back out for an option levy in 2010, which we lost.

It was a heartbreak to the volunteers to see that the community and the Board of Commissioners did not support us.

The Lane County Master Gardener Association had seen this happen with funding cuts in Multnomah County, and besides advocating at local and state levels, we were fundraising money just as a backup. It was a struggle to get the administrators to approve that the Master Gardener Program could keep running with volunteer financial support.

Slowly, we brought back other programs until we got the option levy passed in 2016 and 2021. 

What I would like to ask of the Lane County Board of Commissioners to approve the new option levy for the May election. 

Some of us volunteers are aware of, a couple years ago, Josephine County Board of Commissioners cut funding of a tax service district for OSU Extension Service in Josephine County. This year, the funding is being restored because the volunteers do not want to go away and they advocate for the return. 

I would like to see each of you make a statement saying that you will not take option levy fundings away and support the volunteers of OSU extension service in Lane County. The volunteers of OSU Extension Service trained to become master gardeners, master food preserves, food Pantry volunteers, master woodland managers, to share research based information in our community, in the areas we choose to work in. We do not take the training to run political campaigns or fundraise. We only do this to, because we support those programs 

President, Lane County Master Gardener Association: I’m speaking in support of the option levy. I’m a Lane County resident, a certified master gardener, and currently president of the Lane County Master Gardener Association.

In 2025 alone, the master gardeners logged over 10,000 volunteer service hours. What were we doing with those hours? We were answering questions at the plant clinic, closing 971 cases, and bringing a mobile plant clinic to 51 events throughout the county. 

From Florence to Oak Ridge, we were conducting 76 public workshops and presentations on topics ranging from pruning, composting, edible gardening, herbs and edible flowers, native plants, pollinators, adaptive gardening, weeds, etc.

We also offered free soil pH testing to 94 Lane County residents, helping them have more productive gardens. As part of the ‘Ask Extension’ program, we handled 411 questions, multiply that kind of impact over the multiple years of the previous levy, and you can see what a great investment the program represents in our community.

And the Master Gardeners truly are a community. The program started both here and in Clackamas County 50 years ago. We’re celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, and the grassroots community of the Master Gardeners is very strong, very public-service oriented, and very much looks forward to your support through the option levy.

So thank you again for offering the public the opportunity to support our work. Thanks very much.

Presenter: Commissioner Pat Farr:

Commissioner Pat Farr: You know, when I came to America, first club I joined was 4-H. I was in the sixth grade at East Elementary School in Tillamook. 

And then back in 2016, this first came to us. And I of course supported it then as I will today. We got tremendous return on the investment. You heard only a fraction of the testimony today of the people who have been in, whose lives have been affected by this. 

I love in particular what Emma was saying about how it propelled you into college. You gained social skills, you gained presentation skills, and that it helped you to excel. You’re not the only one. I mean, it goes across the board and that’s just one portion of OSU extension service.

It includes the master gardeners. When I left the state legislature, I went to work at Food for Lane County along beside Laurie Trieger and the master gardener program was just getting kicked off in 2004 at Food For Lane County. I think that’s been a good, good partnership through the years. 

So I think everything you do betters lives, and that’s what we’re all about is bettering lives. So this is an easy one. This is a very, very easy one. 

So I appreciate you being here today. Thank you for the testimony Emma, you and Abigail, thank you for 4-H. Keep it up and recruit, keep recruiting. Thank you. 

Presenter: Lane County commissioners place a five-year local option levy on the May ballot, to support 4-H and OSU Extension programs.