Every year Iowa State dedicates a week to Extension and Outreach. This year, the event falls at the end of March. However, not many know what Iowa State’s Extension and Outreach is or what role it plays for the university and the surrounding community.

The program is part of the Cooperative Extension Service, which is a nationwide provider of scientific research-based information. The ISU section provides resources based on university research to educate and meet the needs of any resident of Iowa.

“We’re the piece of the puzzle that’s out working with the citizens of the state,” said Jacy Johnson, manager of communications and external relations of Extension and Outreach. “We’re here to help the people of Iowa.”

The program provides Iowans with resources in every possible area people can think of, including financial planning and domestic needs. Some of the services that are provided by are an answer line, where anyone can call and ask any question, such as how to cook a turkey, which is popular over Thanksgiving or how to get a stain out of the carpet.

The Extension and Outreach program also created an app, called “Four day throw away,” which was created by the program to show users when to throw away leftovers based on their food safety time period. The “Spend Smart. Eat Smart.” blog was created to help teach people how to budget to feed their families in a low cost but healthy way.

“We do so much,” Johnson said. “But primarily we bring the research of ISU to the people.”

Johnson said Extension and Outreach recently went through a major reconstruction. Instead of a director in every county, they now have 20 regional directors making the program “a lot more efficient and streamlined than before.”

Along with this reconstruction, Cathann Kress, vice president of Extension and Outreach, has been looking at new business models and strategic plans. Johnson said she believes Kress’s “leadership can lead us into the future.”

Kallen Anderson, senior in dietetics said she has been involved with the 4-H program since high school.

“It’s been a part of my family forever,” Anderson said, after explaining her older sister, brother and parents were all involved with 4-H.

Anderson said that her experience with 4-H benefited her in three main ways: friends, experiences and life skills. She said she’s met so many people with whom she continued to stay in touch, has traveled across the nation and has been provided with “life skills [she] can use forever.”

Johnson said one out of five of all school age youth participate in 4-H, which is just one of the many programs Extension and Outreach offers. The program is focused on education and building future leaders.

“It’s so beneficial to a lot of people,” Anderson said. “If people aren’t exposed to it, they can’t benefit at all.”