MEDIA ADVISORY

April is National Garden Month, and April 20-26 is National Volunteer Week. In Missouri, almost 3,000 volunteer Extension Master Gardeners donate their time and expertise to advance the program’s mission of “helping others learn to grow.”

“Volunteers in the Missouri Extension Master Gardener program are passionate about gardening, and their willingness to share their knowledge with others is phenomenal,” says Debi Kelly, state coordinator for the University of Missouri Extension Master Gardener program. “They are truly a great group of people.

Through workshops, hotlines, speakers bureaus, garden show booths and demonstration projects, Master Gardeners provide gardening information to thousands of Missourians each year. Their dedication has an estimated economic impact of more than $5 million annually, Kelly said.

To find out how volunteer MU Extension Master Gardeners share unbiased, research-based horticultural information in your communities, contact Debi Kelly at 573-445-9792 or kellyd@missouri.edu.

Learn more about the program at http://mg.missouri.edu.

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