AUSTIN — The Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Travis County will present a 2012 Master Wellness Volunteer program training from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. from Aug. 6-10 at the AgriLife Extension office at 1600-B Smith Road in southeast Austin.
“Participants in Master Wellness program training receive 40 hours of health and wellness education,” said Amy Harris, AgriLife Extension agent for family and consumer sciences and Travis County training coordinator. “Once they graduate, participants agree to give back at least 40 hours of volunteer service to the community.”
“The Master Wellness Volunteer initiative is an AgriLife Extension program, Harris said. Training focuses on basic nutrition and dietary guidelines, food safety, health education, weight management, health and nutrition trends, food preparation and safety, healthy lifestyle choices and children’s health.
Instruction is provided by experts from AgriLife Extension, an educational outreach agency of the Texas A&M University System.
“This program provides training for volunteers who will go out in the community to give Travis County residents objective, science-based information needed to make healthy lifestyle choices,” Harris said. “Volunteers are critical to helping us deliver our wellness programming to the community.”
Volunteer opportunities are diverse, she said, and include giving presentations to local community groups, assisting with periodic cooking schools, distributing information at health fairs and providing administrative support.
“Volunteers can help teach classes to different age groups about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, help implement diabetes education programming such as the Do Well, Be Well with Diabetes series, serve as Walk Across Texas site managers or provide healthy recipe demonstrations for people at grocery stores, businesses or clinics,” she said. “They also can help with administrative tasks, such as helping register people for programs, data entry and designing newsletters or flyers.”
Harris said the program encourages agencies, schools and businesses to send representatives to the trainings so they may be prepared to provide work-site wellness programs if needed.
She said some of the reasons people become Master Wellness volunteers are a desire to give back to the community, learn more about nutrition and wellness, and live a healthier lifestyle.
Harris noted that while health and wellness professionals are among the county’s current Master Wellness volunteers, the training is open to adults of all professional and non-professional backgrounds.
“Our volunteers also include social workers, homemakers, civic leaders, human resource managers, students and retired people,” she said. “All volunteers need is the desire to learn about health and wellness, and the ability to share with others in the community what they have learned. Previous health or wellness training is not required, only an interest in living healthfully and helping others do the same.”
Wellness is a state of health that doesn’t just involve the absence of an illness, Harris said.
“Wellness encompasses a person’s physical, emotional, social, spiritual and financial well-being,” she said. “It is the job of the AgriLife Extension family and consumer sciences agent to promote wellness for our community through teaching others. And our Master Wellness Volunteer program participants have that same opportunity.”
Master Wellness volunteers provide instruction to adults and youth in small group settings, such as community centers, service or volunteer organization locations, schools, churches and businesses.
The cost is $85, and the deadline to register is July 30. Participants receive a binder with copies of all training presentations, as well as healthy recipes to share with members of the community.
For more information, contact Harris at 512-854-9600 or akharris@ag.tamu.edu.
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