Like most organizations, the Wheat Swamp Ruritan Club fought to maintain some sense of normalcy during the Year of COVID. After Gov. Cooper issued his “shelter in place” order, the club did not meet for several months.

Around September, we started having meetings again, complete with social distancing, masks, and other recommended precautions. Members had a lively discussion concerning whether the club should hold the Merry Christmas Raffle and annual Awards Banquet. In the end, members gave thumbs up to both.

Since this Monday comes right before Thanksgiving, I want to share a little about the person our club chose to celebrate as “Citizen of the Year.” We can all be thankful for the dedicated service of our honoree: Tammy Kelly, Director of the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Center.

Perhaps the most compelling reason our club unanimously agreed to honor Tammy as our Citizen of the Year centers on a special project she spearheaded. As North Carolina moved into Phase 1 of the COVID-19 shutdown, many local residents faced loss of income.  When families must decide between feeding kids or pets, four-legged household members can become victims of neglect or, even worse, surrender.

Tammy decided to make use of the Livestock Arena and Farmers Market.  Using the successful model established in the Wake County, she and her team created “No Empty Bowl of Lenoir County.”  Under Tammy’s direction “No Empty Bowl” established an avenue for collecting pet food and raising money to purchase food and supplies. Big Blue and Petsense not only made significant food donations, but they also sold food to the project at a discount, allowing “No Empty Bowl” to stretch donations even farther.

Her team collected pet food at the Farmers Market site on Saturdays for six to eight weeks. They hosted a “drive through” pet food pick up at the Livestock Arena once a week for five weeks.  Anyone lacked transportation could sign up through the Lenoir County Cooperative Extension Center web page and the team would arrange delivery.

“Thanks to our very generous community, we were able to assist over 200 families with pet food and supplies,” said David Mooring regarding her efforts. “We had many donations from civic organizations in excess of $2,000.  All of this community assistance evolved from Tammy’s desire to support the pets of community members stricken with COVID 19 income losses.”

Tammy’s roots are in Eastern North Carolina. She was raised on a tobacco farm in Newport. After finishing high school she was off to North Carolina State University, where she earned three degrees. Her highest educational attainment was a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.).

Tammy has worked 32 years with the NC Cooperative Extension. For 14 years, she worked as a 4-H Agent in Franklin County. For 18 years she has served as County Extension Director here in Lenoir County.

Her 18 years in this county brought a number of challenges. In October of 2016 Hurricane Matthew flooded the Cooperative Extension Complex with 31 inches of water. She worked with county officials to find a place suitable for relocating the complex, but none proved satisfactory.

Tammy’s drive as a problem solver kicked into high gear. She looked into acquiring funds earmarked for Golden Leaf Relief and Recovery Grants. The Golden Leaf Foundation assured her that Cooperative Extension was indeed eligible to apply. Tammy created a coalition of representatives from the county commissioners and the agriculture community to meet with Golden Leaf representatives to demonstrate she had strong support in our agriculture community.

Golden Leaf awarded $1.4 million plus to build up the original grounds to construct a new facility.  The facility now sits on high ground at 1711 Highway 55-11, a testimony to Tammy’s dogged persistence. 

Her passion for local food production led her to work to revitalize of the Lenoir County Farmers Market. Through grants and private donations, she raised more than $297,000 for improvements, including new restrooms and a paved parking area. She is now overseeing the completion of a Community/Commercial Kitchen in the Market Annex.

The Farmers Market allows local food producers to offer their products directly to consumers with minimal overhead so community members can support each other. The local market also offers a venue for homemade craft items.

Tammy writes articles on foods, nutrition and wholesome recipes for the Lifestyle Section of the Kinston Free Press. Her work has also appeared in the New Bern Sun Journal and The Jacksonville Daily News. Most recently, she has been writing for the on-line local news publication Neuse News.

“Tammy Kelly’s drive to solve problems, promote agriculture and rural America, and provide dedicated community service are the Wheat Swamp Ruritan Club is proud to recognize her as our Citizen of the Year for 2020,” said David Mooring.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.