Moultrie, Ga.— Kathryn Holland, FCS agent for the University of Georgia’s Colquitt County Cooperative Extension, has 3 major initiatives planned for the first part of the year.  The Extension will focus on financial literacy empowerment with their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, Chronic Disease Prevention and Lifestyles classes, and ServSafe classes.

The VITA program will offer tax preparation services for people who are “in scope” and meet the requirements for the program, according to Holland.

Holland said that if clients do not meet the requirements for the program, they will be referred to a paid preparer. The VITA program starts this February and will run through the end of March. Services are by appointment only.

Cancer Prevention: Empowering Communities in the Rural South classes, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture are going on now, but are currently full. The location and times of the second round of Chronic Disease Prevention and Lifestyles classes are to be announced.

Participants of these classes receive a free cookbook and food demonstrations where they get to taste recipes found in the book, said Holland. “They also receive educational information packets to go along with their cookbooks and are asked to take a survey at the end of the class,” Holland added.

The purpose of the class is to educate the community on preventative measures for cancer. Those interested in the next class can call the UGA Extension office. “If anybody is interested, I would love to do it again,” Holland said.

Holland said that ServSafe courses are offered quarterly throughout the year, with the upcoming ones in April and a Spanish course offered in May. The ServSafe class is a 2-day event, and applications can be filled out in office or by downloading the form from the Extension’s Facebook page.

“We want to make sure that the people of Moultrie and Colquitt County can eat food safely and with confidence,” Holland said.

Holland is certified with the the National Restaurant Association ServSafe program.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is an upcoming project that will take off later this year. This program will focus on “health and wellness focus blended with youth leaders,” Holland said. More details will be announced as plans are finalized.

“We try to have proactive and reactive programming just to respond to the needs of our communities,” Holland said. “Everybody is different, and we need to be able to move and be flexible with the needs of Colquitt County as those needs arise.”

More information on the programs the Extension offers can be found on their website extension.uga.edu/county-offices/colquitt.html, by calling their office at (229) 616-7455 or on their UGA Extension Colquitt County FACS Facebook page.