Madison County Farm Bureau and Cornell Cooperative Extension share a rich history as the same organization 100 years ago.On the local level , it started as a new collaboration between the Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, and support from Cornell University. The very first extension agent started work in Broome County, NY. The idea spread throughout New York and the U.S., and still is the envy of many countries in the world. In the 1950's, Farm Bureau and Cooperative Extension decided to pursue different paths, though each still serve the same community. Farm Bureau's mission is to advocate legislatively for agricultural and farm business policies on the local, state, and national levels. Cornell Cooperative Extension's mission is to "enable people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships that put experience and research-based knowledge to work."
This movie describes and shows some of the local partners and participants in early extension programming in Madison County.
Innovator's Award Winner Announced
Award Sponsored by Humana Corporation
NSCA is pleased to announce the Winner of the 2011 Innovators Award for RSVP Volunteers
RSVP: Mary Bartlett, RSVP of Madison County
sponsor Cornell Cooperative Extension, Madison County, NY
The Nation Senior Corps Association announced the winner of the 2011 Innovators Award for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program to RSVP of Madison County NY. The award commends RSVP Volunteers of Madison County as a shining example of creativity and the ability to forge new ground in Senior Corps project development and came with a $650 prize.
The NSCA Innovators Award is designed to identify and publicize innovative practices in Senior Corps program management. Winning entries must be existing practices that address issues common to Senior Corps program management. They must be replicable, realize a concrete or measurable outcome, and lead to superior program performance. Innovative practices are distinguished by their creativity and contribute to the improved performance of the RSVP program.
RSVP of Madison County's winning entry was the Building Non-Profit Capacity Through Volunteer Engagement project. The program implemented a four-pronged approach for volunteer recruitment including convening focus groups, offering new volunteer opportunities, publicizing volunteers profiles, updating the website and including social media in volunteer recruitment efforts. The project helped RSVP Madison NY enlist 106 new volunteers in 2010 and add four new projects with measurable community impact. The marketing and recruitment project was made possible by a generous grant from the Central New York Community Foundation.
RSVP of Madison County NY is a Corporation for National & Community Service Agency, Sponsored by: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County, With local support from The United Way of Greater Oneida, and the Community Chests of Canastota, Hamilton, Town of Sullivan, and the United Community Chest of the Towns of Cazenovia, Fenner, & Nelson, and other generous individual contributors.
New York’s Partner in a Nationwide Educational System
Cooperative Extension is a nationwide system of educational programs that are jointly funded by federal, state and county governments. The U. S. Department of Agriculture is the federal partner while land grant universities are state partners. The passage of two laws by the U. S. Congress made this nationwide system possible. The Morrill Act passed in 1862 established the land grant universities and the Smith-Lever Act in 1914 funded the federal portion of Cooperative Extension.
The name Cornell Cooperative Extension reflects this history and partnership:
- Cornell - the land-grant university for New York State
- Cooperative - cooperation among the land-grant institutions, USDA and New York county governments.
- Extension - the extending of Land-Grant university resources into communities, enabling all citizens to put research-based knowledge to work in their daily lives.
County governments throughout New York State provide substantial funding for Cornell Cooperative Extension programs conducted within their boundaries. County Cooperative Extension Associations, governed by elected Boards of Directors, provide local input to the program development process and monitor expenditures to ensure that these funds are used to effectively meet the needs of county residents. The county name is added to the Cornell Cooperative Extension title to identify these local Associations.
Empowered by this unique organizational structure, Cornell Cooperative Extension engages citizens and community leaders in processes that identify the educational needs of local people, design programs that support lifelong learning and initiate actions that improve communities. This process of linking research-based knowledge with local citizen participation is summarized in the CCE mission statement.
