Cooperative Extension Story

Thank you for publishing the terrific article by Bill Billiter on the Cooperative Extension Service in Orange County (July 28).

I too am grateful to the county supervisors for coming up with the needed funds for the 1988-89 budget to keep this valuable service available to all of us.

I do want to point out two areas of the Cooperative Extension Service not included in the article. They are food and nutrition education and family & consumer services.

One of the most recent accomplishments in the latter category is Project Home-Safe, funded by the Whirlpool Foundation and the American Home Economics Assn. Ann Cotter, Orange County’s Cooperative Extension home economist, has personally trained 30 professional home economists who will in turn develop or expand supervised care programs for school-age children and present safety, time-management and self-care skills programs to children and working parents. How timely, how needed!

Home Economists, I might add, do quite a bit more than “stitch and stir”! They are on the cutting edge of our changing society--continually providing consumers with information for self help. Most all of the information provided by the Extension Service--be it teletips, literature or meetings--is free.

As we all are aware, Orange County celebrates its 100th birthday in 1989. Did you know that the Cooperative Extension Service is celebrating its 75th birthday and that it has been in Orange County for 70 years? That’s a lot of information for self-help service to the farmers, ranchers, gardeners, 4-H club members and consumers in Orange County.

BARBARA PARRILLO

Mission Viejo