The Kenai Peninsula’s 4-H program will be relying more heavily on volunteers soon due to layoffs from the University of Alaska system.
The Kenai Peninsula’s Cooperative Extension Service is an extension of UAF, through which Jason Floyd was a local 4-H agent.
Floyd: “Last year they were saying that UAF alone was running like a $17 million budget deficit, so we’re coming off the back side of two years of deep cuts and all departments have been affected. Not only my own, just across the system. There was a memo that went out saying that there was going to be a review of all programs and to get ready for a 10% cut across the board.
Floyd’s position was part of that 10% cut.
Floyd: “Our leaders really rely on the Cooperative Extension Service to be their point of contact on basically everything. It’s going to require that the community pull together and that the leaders that we have are supported, it’s going to require that families that are part of the program probably take on a little bit of a larger roll. 4-H will continue, it’s an awesome, vibrant program with lots of really creative, capable people in it.”
Anyone interested in participating in the Kenai Peninsula’s 4-H program can contact 262-5824 or can stop by the Cooperative Extension Services office on K-Beach Road.