Donation to support Cooperative Extension Service activities

Submitted by Debbie Carter
Phone: 907-474-5406
02/02/09

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service has received a sizable donation from an individual donor.

An anonymous donor made the $100,000 donation to the University of Alaska Foundation in December, according to Pete Pinney, interim vice provost for outreach and Cooperative Extension Service director. The donation is dedicated to Extension program activities and is one of the largest in Extension’s 79-year history.

"We’re very grateful to receive the donation," he said. "In these difficult times for the economy, such a gift says a great deal about the public understanding of the important role of university service to Alaskans and the confidence in staff and faculty to fulfill that role through the Cooperative Extension Service."

Extension has offices in 10 Alaska communities and serves 60,000-70,000 Alaskans annually as a gateway to the university system. Extension provides research-based practical information through workshops, classes, individual contacts and hundreds of free publications that are available online and through district offices. Information and programs cover a variety of topics, including energy, healthy living, home economy and food preservation, agriculture and horticulture, community development and 4-H and youth development.

Extension programs exist at land-grant colleges and universities in every U.S. territory and state as part of the largest informal information system in the world.

CONTACT: Pete Pinney, Cooperative Extension Service director, at 907-474-7246 or ffppp@uaf.edu. Debbie Carter, CES public information officer, at 907-474-5406 or sndsc@uaf.edu.

DC/2-2-09/093-09