PHILADELPHIA — Penn State Extension programs in the city of Philadelphia will receive a boost as the result of a $100,000 investment from city government.
City Councilman Al Taubenberger presented a check to a delegation of Penn State Extension administrators Oct. 28. The funding will serve as seed money to leverage support for programs addressing several topics relevant to the city's residents, according to Tara Mondock, Penn State Extension associate director for client relations.
"Penn State Extension has a long history of addressing local issues across Philadelphia," Mondock said. "We are actively engaged and committed to tackling important concerns surrounding nutrition, health, youth programming through 4-H, urban agriculture production, water quality and much more. We are grateful to City Council for making this investment in extension programming that will directly serve the citizens of Philadelphia."
Examples of program areas that will benefit from the funding include the following:
— Nutrition, diet and health. Penn State Extension will launch the Well-Connected Communities program, which is aimed at helping communities and organizations work together to build a culture of health so that everyone can live a healthy life.
— 4-H youth programs. The 4-H Health Rocks! program promotes communication and decision-making skills, helping youth develop internal strength to resist risky behaviors. Penn State Extension plans to expand programming to broaden 4-H presence across the city both through clubs and in schools.
— Urban agriculture. Programs focus on production practices and technologies that are unique to urban agriculture. Extension also will provide programming that addresses food processing and local food marketing channels.
"As a proud graduate of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, it was extremely gratifying to be able to present my alma mater with a check for $100,000, on behalf of the city of Philadelphia," Taubenberger said.
"The connections between Penn State and the city of Philadelphia run deep," he added. "There are about 100,000 Penn State alumni in the Greater Philadelphia region, and I have no doubt that Penn State will continue to help mold new generations of leaders in government, business, science and many other disciplines, while providing access to practical, research-based information to improve our citizens' quality of life through Penn State Extension."