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Message from our Executive Director

Earth Month has been an incredible opportunity to highlight all CCE-Suffolk’s efforts to protect and enhance our environment! A big thank you to our Agriculture team, who coordinated our Earth Day clean-up at our main headquarters in Riverhead. Staff from throughout the association pitched in and helped beautify the grounds!

This month, what an honor it was for me to officially join the Rotary Club of Riverhead. Thank you to Bill Sanok for being my sponsor! I am looking forward to visiting Rotary Clubs throughout Suffolk.

It was also a privilege and always a learning experience to attend The New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators Inc. conference in Albany. I enjoyed getting a new perspective on important topics like agriculture, food systems, as well as mental and maternal health. Great chance to thank our legislators in person!

Enjoy this month’s newsletter, and please take some time to join us for an event! Check out Bloom – our annual wellness festival at the Farm – on May 21^st. Learn from our CCE experts and area wellness vendors how to best care for yourself and your loved ones! Happy Spring and a Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

~Vanessa Pino Lockel

BLOOM RETURNS

After the success of last year, CCE's one-day wellness festival Bloom returns to the Farm!

Join us Saturday, May 21st, for a day full of family activities with educators from our program areas and local vendors.

For tickets and information, click the link below

For More Info

Interested In Being a Wellness Vendor?

Listening Session

CCE-Suffolk is proud to be an active member of the Suffolk County Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Task Force. A special thank you to Suffolk County Legislator Jason A. Richberg for organizing an informed discussion to improve maternal outcomes, especially for women of color. Included in this listening session were medical professionals, students, doulas, and midwifery specialists that support education in maternal healthcare.

Join us for the next listening session

Program Highlights

After two years, the Agriculture Program's Horticulture Diagnostic Lab is back open for in-person visits! Stop into our Riverhead office to get soil testing and diagnoses on problems your plants may be facing.

Our Pest Management team members visited Blydenburgh County Park in Hauppauge to investigate a report of bees in the area. It’s essential to identify insects to see if they’re pests that can harm your garden or if they are essential to our environment.

The Agriculture team helped organize our annual Earth Day event at our Riverhead office. Our staff, members of Suffolk County Soil and Water, and the staff of Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski worked together to help clean up the grounds and make our office beautiful and healthy for everyone who visits.

Nutritionists from our Community Education program teamed up with Community Housing Innovations’ family shelter in Commack and at the Stony Brook Amagansett Health Fair to teach healthy eating and meal preparation.

The Family Health and Wellness Team is busy getting their special programming for Mental Health Month together. Their Play Time, Learn Time has re-started at our Suffolk County Farm.

Our Marine Program is offering its Back to the Bays Lecture Series at the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company on the first Tuesday of each month. Attendees will meet CCE-Suffolk Marine team staff and learn how to give back to the bays.

Marine staff and Southampton Parks and Recreation hosted the volunteer Long Beach Shoreline Restoration Event! It was great to see all the volunteers who came together to help clean the coastal grasses and shrubs at Foster Memorial Beach.

Our Suffolk County Farm is quickly filling up its educational programs and getting ready for its camps in the Summer. They will be hosting their annual Baby Animal Day at the Farm on Thursday, May 14th. Check out their ticket giveaway on their Facebook account.

Board Member Spotlight

This month we are switching up our Board Member Spotlight section. We are grateful when we have board members see us in action.

Board Member Sonia Spar (pictured above) recently came out to the Farm on a beautiful spring day. She met with educators, got a tour of the farm, and held some of our favorite farm friends. We look forward to another delightful visit from Sonia.

Board President Mark Cisz attended a preparation lecture on our on our Horseshoe Crab Monitoring, Citizen Science program as an ongoing volunteer.

He shared with us some photos of educator Matt Sclafani (picture above) presenting on Horseshoe Crabs.

Join our Board Member Dr. Erica Posniak for her two Mindfulness programs this month.

Managing Stress with Mindfulness

Stress Less: Mindfulness for Stress Relief

Ask the Family Educator

Today’s question: How can I keep my family healthy?

To help maintain your family’s good physical and mental health, try to spend time outdoors each day. Being in the sun regulates our bodies, helping us to stay awake in the daytime and sleep during the night.

Having some direct exposure to sunlight also activates Vitamin D production in our bodies. This is crucial to maintain strong bones, and for stimulating the brain to produce serotonin, a chemical which is a natural mood booster.

According to the American Journal of Public Health, feelings of depression and anxiety can be reduced by spending time at a park, lake, ocean, or in the woods.

Your family can exercise by walking, biking, or playing sports together. While enjoying the lovely spring weather, you are increasing the physical and mental well-being of your family. Please remember to wear sunscreen, and prioritize spending time outdoors, even if you just smell the roses!

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Family Health and Wellness educators are pleased to offer resources and programs for CCE-Suffolk staff, family, friends, and the greater community.

The 2022 theme is “Back to Basics’ and our department is collaborating with the Association for Mental Health and Wellness in Suffolk to build awareness toward greater acceptance that mental health is just one component of our well-being, just like our physical health.

Since the start of the pandemic, more and more of us are talking about mental health, but nevertheless, mental health conditions, resources, and conversations oftentimes feel complicated and out of reach.

We hope our efforts will help break down barriers and make mental health information easy to access. Check out our Mental Health Month Flyer and join us in taking care of your mental health this month!

Be sure to check out our daily social media posts including our self-care challenge to win a gift card.

Feel free to reach out to our educators with specific questions or concerns. We are happy to help!

Cara Sultan, Kerri Reda, Dinah Torres Castro, and Maxine Cohen

Family Health and Wellness

UPCOMING EVENTS

Agriculture/Gardening

Organic Vegetable Gardening
The High Line: Lessons for Gardeners
Garden Makeover on a Budget
Native Plants in your Garden
Hummingbirds in your Garden

Click for more events

Suffolk County Farm/ 4-H

Baby Animal Day
Goat Yoga
Summer Camp at the Farm

Click for more events

Community Education

Farm to Table
Talking to your Kids about the War in Ukraine (and other scary things)
Coffee & Conversations
Raising Resilient Children
Managing Stress with Mindfulness
Charlas de Nutricion
Nutrition Chats
Caring for Yourself in Stressful Time
De la Granja a la Mesa
Caring for Yourself: Managing Grief and Loss
Understanding Temperament and Family Dynamics
Stress Less: Mindfulness for Stress Relief
Play Time, Learn Time

Click for more events

Marine

Back to the Bays Lecture Series
Reptiles Drive-Thru
Coastal Stabilization Workshop

Click for more events

IN THE PRESS

Newsday: Mess Makers

It's ok to play in the mud and slime at these kids' classes.

The article features sensory opportunities and events for kids and adults who have been indoors all winter.

Our International Mud Day celebration at the Farm is listed as a way for families to get out and make the Ultimate Fun Mess on June 25.

Click to Read More

The Suffolk Times: Farmers Increase Protective Measures

"Farmers in Suffolk County have ramped up biosecurity protocols to protect birds following the recent discovery of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in owls on the North Fork."

Click to Read More

FOX 5: Two 'scary' diseases found in NY ticks

"While Lyme disease is one of the more commonly known diseases transmitted by ticks, two others getting more attention are babesiosis, caused by a parasite, and anaplasmosis, a bacterial disease that takes less time to transmit."

Click To Read More

NorthForker: Composting

Want to get into composting but are not sure how to start?

"The single best thing you can do for your yard is [to] add compost...the best way to do so is to make it yourself."

Click to Read More

STAKEHOLDER VISITS

Executive Director Vanessa Lockel was at the Suffolk County Farm & Education Center to meet with Haley White and Brian Sapp of National Grid (picture 1). We share common interests in sustainability and environmental research. This was an excellent follow-up to their Project C Day of Giving.

Vanessa attended the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, & Asian Legislators Inc. Conference in Albany with Anu Rangarajan of Cornell Small Farms Program (picture 2) who highlighted the importance of food security. This conference helps minority legislators throughout the state come together to “promote the needs of the common good” and “to educate, enhance, and empower minority communities.”

CCE-Suffolk has a long-time partnership with FREE- Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (picture 3) through Community Education's programs. Meeting with them allowed discussion on future partnerships.

Vanessa took part in Hofstra University’s Digital Remedy Competition (picture 4) as a judge for the final round. The competition encourages entrepreneurship for participants, which will help them no matter what career path they take!

OUT IN YOUR DISTRICT

We enjoyed visits with a number of our public officials last month to give updates on how CCE-Suffolk is helping our residents. Here's a recap of all our meetings with our local officials.

Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren (picture 2) met with us via zoom to explore opportunities to take our educational resources back to his community members

We joined other Long Island non-profits, legislative, and industry leaders as Governor Kathy Hochul (picture 7) announced the FY 2023 budget and focused on regional investments. Funding that impacts our local environment and the health and welfare of our community’s families is essential to us.

Assemblyman Fred Thiele (picture 4) visited our Suffolk County Marine Environmental Learning Center (SCMELC). He took a tour of our new hatchery and was updated on the ongoing research.

Congressman T om Su ozzi (picture 1) announced at a press conference over $33 million for Long Island Sound and environmental clean-up across Long Island and Northeast Queens. We appreciate the shared support and commitment from the Congressman and all the organizations across Long Island who work to protect our sensitive natural resources.

We had a beautiful visit with Suffolk County Legislator Jason A. Richberg and his family (picture 5) at the Suffolk County Farm & Education Center. In honor of Earth Month, we planted a tree together thanks to a grant from National Gri d.

Vanessa enjoyed meeting up with NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli (picture 6) at a Labor Luncheon in Albany. It was great for her to see her former employer.

Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski and his team member John Stype (picture 3) stopped by to have a formal meeting where we discussed all things CCE-Suffolk in District 1!

CAMP COUNSELORS

Counselors are needed for all of our 4-H camps. Be part of giving our kids an exciting and educational summer.

See all open positions here

CCE-Suffolk.org