BRINGING BACK MASTER GARDENERS TO CAPE MAY COUNTY
Extension Education
Claudia Gil Arroyo
Rutgers
Cape May Court House
Abstract
The Rutgers Master Gardener Program in Cape May County was a successful volunteer program, having over 80 volunteers by the year 2009, who participated in outreach and education programs in the county. Over the next five years, the number of new volunteers progressively decreased, and in 2014 the program stopped being offered due to a lack of quorum. Over the years the number of volunteers dwindled due to many factors such as an aging group of volunteers, the lack of a program coordinator and the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in having only 2 active volunteers in the county in 2022. Extension decided to bring the program back and recruit new volunteers in 2023. The program needed a major overhaul, updating of content and modification of learning modalities. Cape May County joined other New Jersey counties in offering a gardening education webinar series, which would become the core training for the Rutgers Master Gardener program. This allowed them to identify potential volunteers among participants of the webinar series. Since they were already taking the educational webinars, they were offered to complement that education with in-person workshops and sessions (which expanded on the webinars), and field trips to local horticulture related businesses and sites. Participation in the additional activities had no additional cost and would allow them to become Rutgers Master Gardeners. The webinar series had 15 participants from Cape May County, 8 of which decided to continue the training to become Rutgers Master Gardener volunteers and who are currently completing volunteer hours.
Poster has NOT been presented at any previous NACAA AM/PIC
This poster is being submitted for judging. It will be displayed at the AM/PIC if not selected as a State winner. The abstract will be published in the proceedings.
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Authors: Claudia Gil Arroyo
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Gil Arroyo, C. Agriculture and Natural Resources County Agent, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New Jersey, 08210