Website shows how Purdue Extension offers helping hand

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Purdue Extension has launched an updated website that has personal accounts of those who have been served by the Extension and how the programs made their lives and businesses better and made their families and communities stronger.

The site, Making a Difference, includes summaries of Purdue Extension programs searchable by county.

Johnson County’s rankling Community Schools food service director Jill Overton is one of many who shared her story. Overton says the food-handling training the Extension gives helps the cafeteria staff make sure the 4,000 meals it prepares every day are safe for the kids.

A registered dietician, she sends cafeteria workers to certification workshops offered by the Purdue Extension office in Johnson County.

"We're feeding a lot of kids," Overton says. "We do everything we can to avoid a food-borne illness outbreak."

All state retail food outlets, including school cafeterias, are required to employ at least one certified food handler at every location.

"I like all of our workers to take the training, even if they aren't required to be certified," Overton says.

You can read Overton’s story here.

Farmer Paul Flint was like many producers last summer trying to deal with problems that came with the drought. He is co-owner of Flint Farms in Daviess County in southwest Indiana, where the drought was at its worst, and had plenty of concerns and questions about the condition of his crops and how to care for his 75 head of cattle.

Purdue Extension specialists and educators knew that he and many other producers would need help quickly. They organized a series of regional meetings with crop farmers and cattle producers throughout the state to help them get a firm handle on problems and find solutions.

Flint's farm was the host site of one such meeting in August. Flint expected 10-15 fellow producers to attend, but more than 50 showed up to learn of possible solutions to the short forage supply and escalating feed costs.

"The people at Purdue put a lot of us at ease," Flint says. "They helped us to understand that it wasn't the end of the world. They calmed a lot of nerves."

You can read Flint’s story here.