Volunteer Appreciation
Arizona Cooperative Extension Volunteer Impact Makers
Thank you to all our volunteers! Arizona Cooperative Extension appreciates our thousands of volunteers across the state and truly values the support you provide! April is National Volunteer Month, we’re recognizing some of them to showcase the impact they make.
To learn more about being a volunteer with us, check in at your local Extension office.
Dee James
Colorado River Indian Tribes
Master Gardener
Master Gardeners enjoy our projects and the company of our fellow Master Gardeners.
Jim Mast
Coconino
Master Gardener
I like teaching, it’s fun to do.
Lacey Salabye
Navajo Nation
4-H
Helping to instill the love of ag in the next generation is an important job, it’s what keeps me involved.
Jeanne Briggs
Yavapai
Extension Advisory Board
Volunteer work is fun and challenging. I enjoy working with staff who are dedicated to providing quality programs to the people of Yavapai County. We all listen to each other and then try to find solutions and better ways to serve our communities.
Delana Cota
Pima
The Garden Kitchen
From bagging compost to harvesting vegetables, I enjoy being with the other volunteers and working outdoors in the Garden Kitchen.
Karen Donaldson-Webb
Gila
4-H
I know I can make a difference for youth by providing opportunities that they wouldn’t have without the time of a volunteer.
Brad Dale
Cochise
Family, Consumer and Health Sciences
I have a passion for helping folks make a difference in their lives by educating them about making healthy choices.
Kimberly Yazzie
Apache
4-H
My lifetime goal is to improve economic conditions in Apache County and the Navajo Nation by helping youth develop life skills – ability to thrive in the show ring and in the world beyond. Develop social skills to collaborate with others. Appreciation of Agriculture as a foundation to weave Navajo traditional practices and culture together to build upon business skills and values.
Terry Henry
Mohave
4-H
I enjoy working with kids and watching them learn about their animals – whether it is beef or swine.
Denise Purvis
Santa Cruz
4-H
4-H makes great youth with a moral compass and a strong work ethic, and I like being involved in the learning-by-doing process with these youth.
Jeannette Fish
Maricopa
Ag Literacy
Ag Literacy is very important to me. I consider it one of my life missions to teach people that the milk case at the supermarket does not lactate.
John Anderson
Santa Cruz
4-H
I am passionate about educating youth about safety and the proper way to handle a firearm.
Jessica Flowers
Graham
4-H
Susie King
Yuma
4-H
It’s all about the kids; seeing them gain life skills, and involving their parents in this process.
Jessica Vasquez
Greenlee
4-H
"Learning by doing” is an important reason why I took on the swine project this year. I think it’s how we all learn, and I like helping kids figure that out as well as figuring out how to manage their livestock.
Ashley Umphress
John Vaughn
Cochise
4-H
Rockets are less expensive than livestock, and kids still get the essential 4-H lesson – responsibility.
Debbie Townsend
Yuma
4-H
One of the joys of being a 4-H volunteer is getting to watch our members grow into tomorrow’s leaders.
Michele Nelsen
Maricopa
4-H
I keep coming back because I love what I do! I enjoy watching the kids perform, and grow. We offer an economical and wholesome program for our 4-H kids.
Judy Hiner
Pima
Master Gardener
I enjoy teaching people how to become more successful gardeners in our challenging desert environment, using research-based knowledge from University of Arizona faculty.
Kristi Bennett
Coconino
4-H
I am a true believer in the 4-H Program. My father was a leader, I grew up in 4-H, and have been a leader for my own children and many other and now my grandchildren. 4-H shapes well-rounded adult citizens who become our leaders.
Vicki Johnson
Maricopa
4-H
Fun brings me back! I love to dance, and clogging is a low-stress dance form.
Sara Ellington
Greenlee
4-H
Connection to the community and the ability to know what experiences Arizona has to offer are important to me – 4-H helps me figure out both of those.
Matthew Ivan
San Carlos Apache
Community Garden
The after-school community garden at Peridot Lutheran School lets children experience God's creation in a meaningful way. It gives me great joy to see how excited they are to plant and harvest their vegetables. I get to watch them carry their handfuls of spinach and beets to their parents, knowing that each student knows how it grew and how nutritious it is.
Tara Davis
Pinal
4-H
4-H is like a second family. We all know each other, and we all work together, watching our kids work hard and succeed.
Susan Williams
Mohave
Extension Advisory Board
Building healthy communities requires that our residents have the opportunities and tools they need to make healthy decisions. Cooperative Extension provides the knowledge, the professional staff, and quality services that help Mohave County citizens make smart decisions about youth development, gardening, water use, rangeland management and more.
Adele Wolyn
Pinal
Master Gardener
Linda Reddick
Mohave
Master Gardener
One of the many rewards I receive from being a Master Gardener is being able to share the joy and excitement in the faces of both young and old when they have successfully grown something.
Leander Thomas
Navajo Nation
4-H
I’ve been involved in Ag Education for many years. 4-H lets me work with youth before high school, and getting them started young gets them moving in the Ag direction.
Valerie Nuvayestewa
Hopi
Community Gardening
“Lasagna bed” gardening classes have allowed us to teach elders and youth practical skills that help reduce food insecurity and improve water use. The added benefit is seeing the elders fall into their natural cultural role as teacher in these sessions.
Jessica Verfurth
Pinal
4-H
Watching the pride grow in a child as they finish a sewing project they put their own hard work and personality into is what inspires me. As a fourth generation seamstress, it hits close to home to see members enjoying and carrying on a dying trade.