DATE:     10/26/00
CONTACT:  Barbara Brown, (803) 773-5561 
WRITER:   Diane Palmer, (864) 656-4741

Clemson Extension wins national 
award for Join Hands Day efforts

     SUMTER - Sumter County's Clemson Extension Service joined 
hands with the South Sumter Citizen's Committee to help make 
their community a better place to live. 
     And, they received a Join Hands Day national recognition 
award for their efforts. The neighborhood cleanup project was 
one of 20 Join Hands Day projects that received national honors.
     The award was announced Sept. 28 in Chicago, during the 
annual convention of the National Fraternal Congress of America 
(NFCA), a gathering of representatives of America's Fraternal 
Benefit Societies. 
     As a result of the June 17 Join Hands Day project, four 
streets in the South Sumter neighborhood are litter free.  
Thirty youths and eight adult volunteers picked up 70 bags 
of trash and 20 old tires.
     "Participants not only benefited from a cleaner community, 
they felt empowered that they could do something to make their
community better," said Barbara Brown, Clemson Extension agent 
in Sumter County.
     Youths and adults made up the planning team. After several
planning meetings, volunteers decided what streets to clean 
up. 
     The Extension Service had been working with residents of 
South Sumter, a designated Empowerment Zone, on a community 
youth development project as part of the S.C. Children, Youth 
and Families At Risk (CYFAR) initiative. As part of this effort, 
more than 100 youths and adults participated in six different
neighborhood meetings. One of the results of these meetings 
was a desire to beautify the South Sumter neighborhood.
     "When Clemson Extension shared the Join Hands Day information, 
the residents enthusiastically embraced the concept and decided 
to have a community clean-up," said Brown.
     Sponsored by America's Fraternal Benefit Societies in 
partnership with the Points of Light Foundation and the 
Volunteer Center National Network, Join Hands Day is a new 
volunteer day designed to build relationships between youth
and adults while engaged in neighborhood service. Projects 
were judged on the quality of the activity, how well 
partnerships between youth and adults were developed, how the 
work benefited participants and what activities or relationships 
may continue after Join Hands Day.
     Clemson Extension received a plaque and a check for $1,000 
for coordinating the cleanup project. Their project was also 
included in the 2000 awards booklet.
     Woodmen of the World Lodge 19 of Sumter provided $200 to 
host the celebration after the work was completed.
     The next Join Hands Day is planned for June 16, 2001.
                          END