Caring for the Community

There are 101 Extension local centers across North Carolina, staffed by experts in agriculture, youth development, food and nutrition, natural resources, lawns and gardens, community development and more.

Extension experts are also people who live and work in the community. Their jobs are not merely employment. They are a means to help friends and neighbors, and to enrich lives.

“One thing I love about working with Extension — and it’s true of just about every agent I’ve ever met and talked to — is it’s not just a job,” said Nicole Youngblood, agricultural communications and marketing agent for Johnston County. “I don’t want to be too cheesy, but it’s almost like a calling. We’re serving people.”

Youngblood grew up in Johnston County, helping out on area farms. She sees her job of amplifying local agriculture as a means of giving back to the community.

“All those farmers treated me like their family,” she said. “I feel like what I’m doing is for people like them. They’ve been good to me and I want to be good to them. I feel so connected to my county and I’ve never thought about living anywhere else.”

Nicole Youngblood’s mission is to spotlight the efforts of farms in Johnston County, including this one that supplies wildflower seeds all over the country, including for highway beautification efforts.

David Davis can relate. He grew up in Yancey County. It is where he farms and operates a produce stand with his dad. As Extension’s county director and agriculture and horticulture agent, he is in the community every day.

He is no stranger to compassionate care for victims of the worst nature has to offer. As a frequent volunteer with the North Carolina Baptist Men, he has traveled around the country to help people impacted by storms. But when Hurricane Helene struck Yancey County in September 2024, it was different. These disaster victims were his neighbors.

“It is much, much more personal,” he said. “It lights a fire under me to try to help.”

Agriculture agent Peyton Duckett and 4-H agent Misty Varnell at the Madison County hurricane response center. NC State Extension experts throughout western North Carolina assumed new duties to help their neighbors affected by Hurricane Helene.

In Union County, 4-H agent Crystal Starkes has a similar passion for the young people she works with.

“My goal in life is to inspire youth and to encourage them to do something special in their lives,” she said. “I really enjoy mentoring and supporting both the young people as well as their families. It inspires me everyday whenever I leave work to think, ‘Hey, I made a difference. I’m changing somebody’s life. Even just a little bit.’”

That attitude is prevalent across the state. Extension agents are there to make a difference, whatever their specialty.

“The mission and intent of what N.C. Cooperative Extension brings to all communities across North Carolina is serving people,” said Amanda Bratcher, horticulture agent in Lee County. “That’s why we exist. We’re not out for glory. We’re not out to boast or brag about being the most knowledgeable. We’re just here to improve the lives of North Carolinians and to make the world a better place for them and help them reach their own goals, whether it’s growing food, eating healthy or just trying to make a living.”

NC State Extension agents are a part of their community. Here, Lee County horticulture agent Amanda Bratcher speaks to a visitor to the Extension booth at the Sanford Farmers’ Market.

Like David Davis in Yancey County, Terry Kelley was deeply impacted by Hurricane Helene in late September.

Kelley is director of the Extension center in Henderson County, and the tree fruit agent. As he traveled around the county after Helene, he was personally affected by seeing the impact on people who aren’t just clients, but friends.

“Knowing these growers and having a relationship with them and seeing something like this is hard to take,” he said. “You go see a grower who has just had his whole orchard wiped out — it’s tough. This recovery is going to take years in some areas. They want it fixed now, we want it fixed now, and we want to help them now. But in some ways the best we can offer is hope for the future.”

That hope will be personified in Extension experts like Kelley who are out in the community, offering not just expertise and help but also compassion and understanding for their neighbors.

“I’m glad we’re here to help. I’m glad Extension is part of this process,” Kelley said. “It is heartbreaking, but yet heartwarming at times as well when you’ve helped somebody that has a dire need. We wouldn’t be in a position to do this if we weren’t part of Extension. That’s just another reason why our county office system is so important. We can be boots on the ground.”

Margie Mansure, NC State Extension FCS agent in Watauga and Caldwell counties, offers up a tasty, healthy dish made with local ingredients at a farmers market.

Sydney Knowles knows that heartwarming experience. Knowles is an Extension FCS agent in Sampson County. She joined Extension to make a difference in her community through nutrition, health education, food safety and food preservation programs.

Many of the people she has helped tell her how Extension has transformed their lives, and volunteer to help get the word out to others.

“We don’t always get that kind of feedback,” Knowles said. “When you have that one person who tells you all your programs have done for them, you’re like ‘OK! Our work in Extension is making a difference!’”

Sam Marshall’s territory is larger than the typical county agent. He covers 28 counties as NC State Extension’s area agent for the ornamental nursery and greenhouse industry in western North Carolina. But he has the same motivation as every other agent. He establishes personal connections, and is driven to help his community.

That was the case when Hurricane Helene flooded hundreds of fields and ruined hundreds of thousands of plants belonging to growers he cares about.

Sam Marshall, NC State Extension’s area specialized agent for ornamental nursery and greenhouse producers in western North Carolina, assesses a field damaged by Hurricane Helene in Burke County with grower Dee Clark.

“This is a job that I love and it’s a group of people I love working with,” he said. “This was such a devastating event. The very least I can do is to show them that I’m working hard for them, so that they can see that they’re not forgotten. Their livelihoods are at stake.”

Marshall is tapping into research from NC State and working with local agents to help the growers recover.

“None of the work is ever done in a vacuum,” Marshall said. “It’s always a team and community effort. I’m proud to work for NC State, and I’m proud to get to work with this group that puts it all on the line. It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to help them in the way that they deserve to be helped.”

Local agents work in harmony with Extension specialists who conduct research on campus in Raleigh and at 18 agricultural research stations across the state. One of those researchers is Jim Walgenbach, an NC State Extension specialist in entomology.

Walgenbach works with local agents to make sure crops grown by North Carolina farmers are consumed by people, not insects.

“You want to make sure you are educating and serving as a resource for county Extension agents,” he said. “They are the ones who are on the frontlines, dealing with growers on a day-to-day basis. Communicating with those people and providing the latest and most modern approaches to handling pest populations in a sustainable manner is very important.”

NC State Extension’s emphasis on serving people in the community is attracting a new generation, young people who want to use their skills and talents to help their neighbors.

Cleveland County field crops agent Heather Schronce passes on knowledge to NC State Extension intern Keely Marlowe in the summer of 2023.

Brynna Laughter, who is majoring in biological and agricultural engineering technology in NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has spent two summers as an intern at the Extension center in Henderson County. The community service aspects have her considering a career in Extension.

“The whole mission is to help people in the community and teach them not just about agriculture, but healthy living and 4-H,” she said. “I thought, ‘I want to help with that. I want to do that.’ It’s just a wonderful program to have across the state. When I applied to State my main goal was to gain knowledge and go back to my hometown and help people there. And Extension is just perfect for that because that’s their whole message.”

Discover the Extension experts serving your community.