The Hope Lions heard from Carolyn and Randall Spencer on Monday (6-15). Carolyn Spencer is the preside the Hempstead County EHC organization. She noted the group is a non-profit organization under the Extension Service in Arkansas. Their mission statement, according to Spencer, notes “We are a volunteer group to disseminate researched information into the community for the betterment of the standards of all the people living in the community”. Spencer said many will recognize the group as the one that came to the Lions’ grandmothers and taught them canning, food preservation, how to keep things safe and clean, introduced vaccines, and presented programs at the county fairs. She noted they still volunteer at county fairs, work with the schools on nutrition and financial education, work with the sheriff’s department on the “Banner” program, work with the Farmers Market, heritage classes such as crocheting, knitting, and embroidering. Spencer talked about their program for the last three years, “Quilts of Gratitude” for local veterans. The group is working to get a quilt for every veteran in Hempstead County and the Spencers showed several of the quilts to be distributed to veterans. Carolyn Spencer suggested anyone knowing of a veteran, especially ones from the Korean War and Viet-Nam, contact Veterans Service officer Donna Rosenbaum. The first year they did 15 quilts. They’ve done 15 for nursing home residents this year and at least 10 promised for Veterans Day in November. The Hope Quilters Guild also did 5 last year.
Anyone who would like to learn more about EHC may contact the Extension office in Hope at 870-777-5771.
