To celebrate how Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) has helped more than one million New Yorkers through its Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) over the past 30 years, five selected New Yorkers will attend the organization's national 30th anniversary celebration Wednesday, April 14, in Washington, D.C.

EFNEP, which began in 1969 and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through land-grant universities in all 50 states and the four U.S. territories, uses trained paraprofessionals to teach limited resource families how to make the most of their grocery purchases. Topics cover planning meals and shopping, nutrition, food labels, food safety and feeding young children. The vision of New York State EFNEP, says Jamie Dollahite, associate professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell and the director of New York's EFNEP, is to enable families and youth with limited resources to improve their diet, health and well-being.

"Education is provided via individual instruction and small classes in the areas of nutrition, food safety and resource management to families who are at or below 185 percent of the poverty guideline," Dollahite says.

The five "outstanding" delegates from New York who will accompany Dollahite to the EFNEP celebration, which will be held at USDA's Jamie L Whitten Federal Building, were selected from a pool of nominations from Cooperative Extension agents. They are:

• Linda Steves, paraprofessional from Washington County CCE. Steves, who has been with EFNEP for 23 years, is responsible for educating low-income families and youth on issues, including nutrition, through continuous empowerment approaches.
• Nayomi Perkins, youth participant from Washington County CCE. Perkins became involved through 4-H EFNEP in 1993; she has volunteered in school and community beautification projects and in a nursing home.
• Charles Rockhill, volunteer from Tompkins County CCE. An EFNEP volunteer for two years, Rockhill was formerly an EFNEP participant who has become a spokesperson for EFNEP; he recruits participants, assists with group events and a class series at a drop-in center for homeless and transitional people. He will speak about his experiences with EFNEP at the celebration event.
• Barbara Dennard, adult participant from Suffolk County CCE. Dennard has been involved with EFNEP for eight years. She has opened a 4-H club in her home, is now the head cook for a Head Start program and credits EFNEP for positive changes in her life.
• Nilda Tirado, nutrition educator/professional from New York City Cooperative Extension. Tirado who live in Flushing, N.Y., has been with the program for 29 years. She was cited as "a devoted and committed leader who strives for excellence, cares deeply and is always aware of the needs of the families within the target area of low-income."

On the afternoon of April 14, the delegation will visit New York senators and representatives on Capitol Hill to talk about the importance of EFNEP to New Yorkers with limited resources.

Over the past 30 years, EFNEP in New York state has provided education to 194,799 adults and 758,719 youths. Today, EFNEP is located in 41 counties in New York State as well as four boroughs of New York City. Last year, EFNEP worked with 8,181 adult participants and 12,843 youth participants. EFNEP employs 176 paraprofessionals who work directly with participating families under the supervision of nutrition educators within CCE.

EFNEP also encourages community commitment and collaboration which can be demonstrated by the 2,722 volunteers who provided services to the program during 1998. About 17 percent of the volunteers were former participants. There are 39 professional nutrition educators in the New York State EFNEP.