As we move into a new year, I’d like to reach out and thank our Extension Master Food Volunteers (EMFV) for all they do to assist N.C. Cooperative Extension here in Brunswick County. The Extension Master Food Volunteer program is similar to the well-known Extension Master Gardener program that work with our Horticulture programs. The EMFVs work alongside our Family and Consumer Science (FCS) Extension staff to support programming in food and nutrition.
We currently have five active EMFVs here in Brunswick County. They are Jane Kulesza from Oak Island; Terry Amrhein from Sunset Beach; Margarete O’Leary from Supply; Lori Van Horn from Ocean Isle Beach and Paul Reinmann from Wilmington.
If you attended some of our Extension FCS programs last year you may have observed these volunteers in action.
In 2025 our EMFVs were frequently seen assisting with Med Instead of Meds, Cooking at Home and food preservation classes. EMFVs conducted food demonstrations and taste tests during these classes.
They also assist Angie Lawrence, EFNEP Program Assistant when she teaches nutrition and wellness classes to elementary school students and families with children. They are currently assisting her on Tuesday mornings each week at the Food Pantry at Brunswick Family Assistance.
Another place you may have seen EMFVs is teaching our Hurricane Meal Kits program. They were at Hurricane Preparedness Fairs and taught this class at senior centers, housing communities and local libraries. They will come out to teach this class, give us a call if you’d like to set up a Hurricane Meal Kits program to your group or organization this spring.
You can also frequently find them is in the demonstration kitchen at the Extension
Office in Bolivia. Before we demonstrate or publish recipes, our EMFVs will test them
for ease in preparation, carefully written instructions and how they taste.
These volunteers have completed a 30-hour training session and 30 hours of interning with Extension Family and Consumer Science staff members. After this training, these EMFVs continue to assist with classes and are able to teach Extension programs independently. They help expand the reach of N.C. Cooperative Extension.
We’re planning a training for new volunteers later this spring. If you think you may be
interested, give Avery Ashley, our Family and Consumer Science Extension Agent here in Brunswick County a call or you can check out the statewide website.
One of their goals for 2026 is to start Home Cooking Clubs at libraries throughout the
county. The goal of these cooking clubs will be to share and demonstrate healthy
recipes, encourage cooking at home and to expand everyone’s food horizons---learn or try something new related to food. The first of these Home Cooking Clubs will be on Tuesday, January 27 from 3-4 p.m. at the Rourk Library, 5068 Main Street in Shallotte.
The topic for this month will be making your own salad dressings. Anyone is invited to join the EMFVs at this meeting, bring your own homemade salad dressing recipe to share and explore ideas for other topics for the Home Cooking Club throughout the
year. This program is free of charge. They’re thinking other topics may be grazing
boards, grains, herbs and spices and granola---but they want ideas and topics from the participants, too.
This past year the EMFVs contributed over 150 hours of service to our Extension Family Consumer Science program here in Brunswick County. These volunteers are passionate about food, cooking, nutrition and local foods and it shows.
There are around 130 EMFVs across the state over half of the counties in NC. The value of their service hours is over $85,000 statewide each year.
I’m bragging about our volunteers. They’re great and we’re glad to have them. If you
know any of these volunteers, please thank them and ask about their contributions to
Cooperative Extension.
Syracuse is a Family and Consumer Science team member and can be reached at N.C. Cooperative Extension, Brunswick County Center 910-253-2610 or by email at clsyracu@ncsu.edu
