Grasp Gardener Volunteer neighborhood grows in Sarasota, Manatee counties

“We’re so excited to welcome these new, educated volunteers, and grateful to Manatee County Extension workforce members for adapting their strategy to welcome our trainees into their class,” mentioned Lee Hayes Byron, UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County director. “As a result of a employees emptiness, we’d not in any other case have been capable of provide the course this yr.” 

Added Crystal Snodgrass, director of UF/IFAS Extension Manatee County: “The Grasp Gardener Volunteer coaching program is intense but rewarding. It’s fantastic that this class of graduates was capable of expertise each conventional and on-line schooling, equipping them with the instruments wanted to serve clientele in Manatee and Sarasota counties.” 

The Grasp Gardener Volunteer program, launched in Florida in 1979 and administered by the College of Florida’s Institute of Meals and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), gives a route for people inquisitive about gardening, landscaping and neighborhood service to assist Extension brokers ship outreach, schooling and initiatives. 

Contributors obtain intensive, university-designed coaching on a variety of domestically targeted points, together with sustainable rising, Florida-Pleasant Landscaping™, and management expertise. They then present myriad volunteer companies, from working with owners on irrigation and panorama points to meting out plant and pest recommendation. 

Via the years, some 5,000 Floridians have joined the ranks of Grasp Gardener Volunteer. To remain energetic in this system, members yearly should contribute hours of volunteer service and obtain continued coaching. 

That features the roughly 100 energetic volunteers now a part of the Manatee County Extension program and round 160 energetic in Sarasota County.

The “Class of 2022” graduates embody: 

Sarasota County Extension: Janis Alberti, Randi Broida, Tracie Cady, Linda Collins, Bryn Durgin, Wilma Holley, Marla M. Hough, Marsha Jordan, Diana Loch, Pat Marchesano, Maggie Richardson, Krystyna Sznurkowski, Christina Tucker, and Ilona Vrba.

Manatee County Extension: Lillian Bonet-Mui, Catherine Charles, Lucinda-Jane Chastain, Vincent DeVivo, Terry Fisher, Kyle Hunter Keating, Elizabeth Ann King, Frances Kurlinski, Brigitte McCarthy, Kaylie McCarthy, Julie L. McKamey, Nancy Porter, Connie Scribner, Lisa Smith, and Kristine DelVecchio. Residents inquisitive about becoming a member of the Grasp Gardener Volunteer program ought to contact the native county Extension workplace to request extra info. In Sarasota County, name 941-861-5000 or e mail [email protected] In Manatee County, name 941-722-4524 or e mail [email protected]