EXTENSION RAISING FUNDS FOR NEW BUILDING

University of Missouri Outreach and Extension in Cape Girardeau County has embarked upon a major fund-raising campaign to build a $350,000 education and extension center.

The drive to raise money for the 7,000-square foot building is an ambitious one. At a Feb. 26 kickoff of the campaign, extension officials announced that almost a third of the funds already had been pledged. Pledges at that time totaled $105,000, which included two and a half acres of land for the building.

Extension, which is an arm of the University of Missouri, needs much more space in which to operate. Its personnel and services have grown significantly through the years.

When extension first came into being, its purpose was to deliver knowledge to Missouri farmers on the most effective ways to raise livestock and produce crops. It also was there with educational programs for all rural families on almost any topic. Its youth program, 4-H, has been a popular and successful asset in rural communities since extension began, and it continues to be today.

Extension has come a long way since then. Today, county extension offers more than 100 programs, all of which are used in one way or another not only by rural dwellers, but city folks as well. In addition to its essential agricultural programs, homemaking and 4-H, today's extension targets community resource development, environmental technologies and business and industry and urban problems, among many other

Extension in Cape Girardeau County has had to endure cramped quarters in Jackson for an awfully long time but has served its role well. There is no reason to believe that it wouldn't continue to provide that same level of services from its leased offices in the Agriculture Conservation and Stabilization Service Office in Jackson, but the service is deserving of more space.

Now extension officials and program participants must convince people of the need.

It would have been far easier to go through university channels and try to secure all of the money from the state. Instead, extension agents, people who use the service and University of Missouri officials have opted to raise the money privately. It says a lot for county extension's approach to business. The fund drive will need all the help it can get.