To celebrate National Volunteer Month, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is recognizing and celebrating the impact made every day by volunteers across the state.
Andy Crocker, AgriLife Extension Senior Program Specialist, Gerontology and Health, began his professional career with AgriLife Extension in 2003 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo.
In 2012, Mr. Crocker became the Texas Master Wellness Program Director. Its primary role is to support AgriLife His Extension County Agents in supporting family and community health in educating youth, adults, caregivers, and professionals in the surrounding area.
“The Texas Master Wellness Program began in the Dallas metropolitan area in 2006,” Crocker said. “AgriLife Extension agents in the region knew that if they wanted to impact the health of their surrounding communities, they needed to create a volunteer program to reach as many Texans as possible. .”
The volunteer program is modeled after other statewide master volunteer programs offered by AgriLife Extension, leveraging the agency’s resources and expertise to train volunteers and help solve health problems through AgriLife Extension education. We provide volunteer support to local communities.
“AgriLife Extension has a lot of capabilities as an agency,” Crocker said. “In a state of 30 million people, this agency relies heavily on a strong volunteer network to meet the growing demands for education and resources. It was created to support and enable us to reach Texans more effectively.”
Mr. Crocker recently spoke with us about the Master Wellness Program and the value of volunteers within it.
What is Master Wellness?
AgriLife Extension Master Wellness Volunteers help leverage outreach and education in the communities where they live, work, and play. We focus on education about health, nutrition, food safety, physical activity, and more. Over the years, our volunteers have become more proactive in supporting local county agencies and are able to develop strategies to complete projects within their communities. We are deeply grateful to everyone who helps make our communities happier and healthier places.
Why should Texans volunteer at Master Wellness?
Our programs dedicated to health and wellness occupy a unique space of volunteer opportunities. Because our volunteers come from the same communities they volunteer in, they often know the best ways to reach their communities and audiences. Because our volunteers have an inside perspective, AgriLife Extension can make an even greater impact across Texas.
Where do Master Wellness volunteers serve?
Our volunteers do anything health-related, including working in the community to conduct health fairs, school resource fairs, healthy cooking demonstrations, and diabetes and hypertension education programs. We strive to provide opportunities that are of personal interest to our volunteers. For example, we have some volunteers who like to be in front of people, so they sometimes teach cooking demonstrations. However, we have some volunteers who would like to work more behind the scenes. Therefore, you may be able to help prepare dishes for the same cooking demonstration. The advantage of our program is that there is no typical volunteer experience as there are lots of different things that match what a particular lead and volunteer want to do.
How many Master Wellness Volunteers are there across the state of Texas?
The number of volunteers tends to fluctuate. But at any given time, we have about 200 active volunteers spread out across 60 counties in Texas.
What does Master Wellness look for in volunteers?
Our volunteers are passionate and motivated to get out into the community and help people. You don’t need much experience before volunteering, as we offer training courses to give volunteers a deep understanding of health, nutrition, food safety and physical activity. Still, we want our volunteers to model the behaviors we’re teaching our viewers, so we hope they’re passionate about those things.
What is the purpose of volunteering at Master Wellness?
Our programs were created to help AgriLife Extension accomplish its mission of telling Texans where they are and how they are doing. One thing to note is that Master Wellness is different from AgriLife Extension’s other Master Volunteer programs because there are no chapters or associations. Our volunteers work directly through local county agents to address identified needs and accomplish needed projects in their communities.
What will volunteers get out of volunteering with this program?
We want our volunteers to be satisfied with the results of their work and come back for more. People who work in the health field have an incredible amount of knowledge about certain topics, such as high blood pressure or physical activity, but they aren’t always able to teach what they know. Through volunteer training, they can acquire skills that allow them to translate their knowledge and make it known to an audience. Other volunteers are simply excited to be a part of AgriLife Extension or join the community. Whatever their reason, we’re glad they’re here.
How do I sign up to volunteer with Master Wellness?
The best way to become a volunteer is to contact your local county agent. If you don’t know who your county’s agent is, you can find your county by visiting AgriLife Extension’s County Offices page.
What makes Master Wellness a unique volunteer program?
We may be the smallest of the volunteer programs within AgriLife Extension, but we are a mighty group. Texas master gardeners can take vegetables from gardens in their communities and use them to teach about their nutrition and how to safely prepare and store them.
We also emphasize shared leadership and decision-making between AgriLife Extension personnel and volunteers. We want to leverage the expertise of our volunteers. Volunteers can help you reach audiences you haven’t been able to reach effectively before, or reach existing audiences in innovative ways.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to volunteer with Master Wellness?
You will learn a lot, so be open and willing. Our volunteers have the opportunity to have fun together and build a network of amazing people who realize the impact of their work.
To learn more about how you can become a Texas Master Wellness volunteer and make a difference in your community, visit the Texas Master Wellness Program.
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