Clallam County commissioners have renewed a contract with Washington State University Extension to provide educational programs for county residents.
Commissioners approved Tuesday a long-standing memorandum of agreement with the land-grant university at a one-year cost of $172,098.
WSU Extension offers such programs as Food and Farms, Community Health, Master Gardeners, 4-H/Youth Development and Waste Reduction.
“They are great programs,” Commissioner Randy Johnson said.
Clallam County Extension Director Clea Rome said her department had been working with partners on community food systems during the COVID-19 crisis.
WSU Extension is partnering with the North Olympic Development Council and the Clallam and Jefferson County land trusts to establish a dedicated fund to help farmers during the coronavirus pandemic, Rome said.
“They can use the money right now for whatever they need, whether it be seeds, whether it be upgrades in equipment,” Rome told commissioners last week.
“They pay back that money through donations to the food banks and food pantries over five years, so they have plenty of seasons to kind of make up that little flush of income.”