County board approves $80,000 to keep local programs alive
By Lauren McSherry, Town Crier Staff Writer
Riding for the Handicapped, a 4-H program run by Westwind Barn, has been saved - for now. The County Board of Supervisors decided June 15 not to cut UC-Cooperative Extension programs, approving $80,000, the minimum funding needed to keep 4-H, Master Gardeners and farm outreach programs running until the next fiscal year. But a statement read by Supervisor Don Gage instructed Cooperative Extension programs including 4-H to line up private donations and fund raising for the 2005-’06 fiscal year.
As a result of the county’s budget deficit, the board considered eliminating funds for Cooperative Extension, a statewide program jointly supported by California counties and the University of California. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act created a national Cooperative Extension network which established an extension program, coordinated by a land-grant university, in every state.
Private donations, $40,000 for the upcoming year, and public outcry saved 4-H this time, but not for the long term. Donors came forward because this was an emergency situation, not because they wanted to be responsible for keeping the program alive forever, said Nancy Couperus, 4-H community leader and founder of Westwind 4-H. She added that full funding was not restored to 4-H, only enough to keep the program afloat for the time being.
Unlike other counties where Cooperative Extension is housed as a separate department, it falls under the jurisdiction of Santa Clara County’s agriculture commissioner, making it more vulnerable to cuts, Couperus said.
Without the county funding, Westwind Barn’s Riding for the Handicapped would be lost because the program relies on the county for liability insurance for children and volunteers, Couperus said. The likelihood of finding another insurer or affiliating with a national organization - a considerable cost - is not great, she said.
Although the cost is shared between the county and the University of California, Cooperative Extension accounts for a small portion, $477,458, of the Santa Clara County budget, according to a report by the University of California, which pays the majority of the more than $2.23 million needed to run Cooperative Extension in the county.
For 26 years Westwind 4-H riding for the handicapped has provided a horse-riding program for hundreds of children with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Friedreich’s ataxia, amputation and congenital abnormalities.
Parents from as far away as Los Gatos and Milpitas bring their children to Westwind Barn, Couperus said.
The demand for Westwind’s riding program is more than it can meet. The program can accommodate 15 children at a time. Twelve children are on the waiting list. Participants are rotated out to give others a chance to take part in the program.
4-H and Master Gardeners volunteer hours bring more than $1 million of services to the county, according to the report.
