UGA Cooperative Extension
DeKalb County Extension Office:
Master Gardener Summary 1979-Current
DeKalb Cooperative Extension
The Master Gardener Program was developed and initiated in Metro Atlanta in 1979. The training was adapted from a similar program that was started in the western states, Oregon and Washington. Since the beginning, interest in this volunteer training effort has increased and spread around the state of Georgia. What was originally a strictly urban training now has spread into the suburbs and rural areas of about 70 Georgia counties. Our primary goals for this program are:
- to develop well-trained volunteers who can assist the cooperative extension with its educational outreach efforts;
- to be sure that the trainees receive the most up-to-date, research-based, unbiased information and training available.
During our training sessions, we emphasize local and regional issues such as water conservation, soil conservation, recycling yard wastes, the reduction of pesticide usage and tree planting/tree protection.
The following statistics reflect only our DeKalb County efforts that are reported separately and as a part of our metro partnership – Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb. State totals are available from Marco Fonseca, State Master Gardener Coordinator in Griffin, Georgia.
YEAR OF TRAINING |
# of NEW TRAINEES |
TOTAL VOLUNTEERS(New & Veteran) |
HOURS RETURNED |
DOLLAR |
# CLIENTS |
1979 (estimate) |
32 |
32 |
2000 |
$7000 |
0 |
1980 (estimate) |
30 |
46 |
3000 |
$10,560 |
0 |
1981 (est.) |
30 |
50 |
3500 |
$12,320 |
0 |
1982 (NJ Hogg) |
25 |
54 |
4800 |
$16,900 |
0 |
1983 (NJ Hogg) |
25 |
66 |
4800 |
$17,280 |
0 |
1984 (NJ Hogg) |
25 |
76 |
4900 |
$17,640 |
0 |
1985 (NJ Hogg) |
24 |
94 |
4500 |
$16,200 |
0 |
1986 (NJ Hogg) |
26 |
89 |
3200 |
$12,800 |
0 |
1987 (NJ Hogg – est.) |
26 |
76 |
3000 |
$15,000 |
0 |
1988 (NJ Hogg – est.) |
26 |
80 |
3500 |
$17,500 |
0 |
1989 (NJ Hogg/GRP) |
28 |
48 |
958 |
$4,790 |
0 |
1990 (GRP) |
22 |
65 |
1,357 |
$6,785 |
0 |
1991 (GRP) |
23 |
56 |
2,210 |
$22,100 |
0 |
1992 (GRP) |
22 |
52 |
2,101 |
$21,010 |
0 |
1993 (GRP) |
19 |
61 |
3,390 |
$33,900 |
0 |
1994 (GRP) |
20 |
73 |
4,554 |
$45,540 |
0 |
1995 (GRP) |
26 |
80 |
6,681 |
$66,810 |
0 |
1996 (GRP) |
20 |
64 |
6,303 |
$63,030 |
0 |
1997 (GRP) |
25 |
76 |
7,024 |
$70,240 |
0 |
1998 (GRP) |
23 |
79 |
6,942 |
$69,420 |
0 |
1999 (GRP) |
25 |
95 |
8,151 |
$116,559 |
0 |
2000 (GRP) |
30 |
104 |
10,622 |
$151,895 |
0 |
2001 (GRP & MKW) |
32 |
102 |
11,090 |
$158,587 |
0 |
2002 (GRP & MKW) |
22 |
119 |
11,227 |
$160,546 |
0 |
2003 (GRP & MR) First year Teach MG |
22 + |
148 |
12,757 |
$182,425 |
|
2004 (GRP & MR) 2nd year Teach MG |
22 + 8 leaders |
181 |
11,312 |
$194,453 |
|
2005 (GRP & MR) 3rd year of Teach MG |
22 + 28 teachers |
191 |
13,024 |
($17.19 per hr.) $223,883 |
22,753 |
2006 (GRP & MR) 4th year Teach MG |
22 + 15 teachers |
201 |
13,669 |
($18.04 per hr) $246,588 |
31,326 |
2007 (GRP & AB) |
23 reg. + 22 teachers |
228 |
14,512 |
$225,411 |
39,103 |
2008 (GRP & AB) |
22 reg. + 15 teachers |
270 |
13545 |
($18.77 per hr.) $254,240 |
64,794 |
TOTALS |
766 + |
0 |
HOURS 213,141 |
$ VALUE $2,461,412 |
(4 years) |
NOTE: 210,000 volunteer hours equals about 100+ full time (2000 hours per year) employees over these 29 years of the master gardener training program. Dollar values have varied as there were increases in the national standards set for calculating the value of volunteer time.
KEY:
- MKW = Horticulture Program Assistant, Mary Kay Woodworth, provided by county to coordinate MG activities.
- MR = Horticulture Program Assistant, Mark Reeve, county employee and MG Coordinator
- AB = Horticulture Program Assistant, Averil Bonsall, new employee 2007
Summarized by: Gary Peiffer, Horticulture Program Manager, January, 2009
