4.19.23 – I’d like to see the County source more local and organic food at all levels (including organizations it contracts with).
February 6, 2023 – Oregon State University Extension Service: Cultivating resilient and healthy communities through positive youth development and community horticulture
Proposal for FY24 Multnomah County investment in OSU Extension Service (funding proposal) – ie, let’s fully fund the Master Gardener Program in Multnomah County!
More background from a letter I received:
On Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 3:16 PM Kim Bown wrote:
Commissioner Rosenbaum and County Chair Pederson,
I am a certified OR State University Master Gardener, class of 2009 – a long standing, active volunteer who strongly support the request for OSU Master Gardener Extension Service funding from Multnomah County! We Master Gardeners and the MG Program has provided a well-recognized, respected, and highly values service to Multnomah Co. residents since 1976. In 2022, I was one of over 500 Metro area MG volunteers contributing over 15,000 hours serving the people of Multnomah County. Our volunteer workforce provides reliable, relevant science-based information about affordable, sustainable gardening and land management practices.
As a Multnomah County Master Gardener volunteer, I see the growing interest in home horticulture, and I hear the urgent demand for information on how to adapt gardening and land management practices to the changing climate. I observe the growing need to advance food security among diverse communities. Every year thousands of Multnomah County residents learn about growing their own food and about land management practices that build soil, conserve water, and help create habitats for wildlife through volunteer-driven demonstrations and classes.
We, as volunteers, can ONLY deliver the educational services with the support, science-based information, and guidance of OSU Extension. Our work is sustainable ONLY with an annual influx of a newly educated group of volunteers who reflect the diversity of our community. Multnomah County has provided no funding to OSU Extension since 2003, leaving Multnomah County and our local OSU Extension Master Gardeners at risk of losing future access to OSU Extension Services. I ask you to support adding OSU Extension Master Gardening Training in Multnomah County to the budget for this next fiscal year.
Thank you for your consideration!
Sincerely,
Kimberly Bown