Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Program

Progressive Agriculture Foundation

While the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day(R) (PAF Safety Day) program is relatively new since its inception in 1995, the impact of the Program far exceeds the 1.9 million individuals it has reached in the past 28 years. The PAF Safety Day program has grown to become the largest rural safety and health education program for children in North America, with trusted resources and outcomes. The Progressive Agriculture Foundation continues to remove barriers and increase the Program's accessibility to reach more youth and help prevent devastating agriculture-related incidents from happening.

About every three days a child dies in an agriculture-related incident, and each day, at least 33 children are injured.

Despite the extraordinary work of the PAF Safety Day Program, there still remains a need for this potentially lifesaving, hands-on education. Through age-appropriate, hands-on activities, the Program focuses on equipping youth with the tools of becoming safety-minded. Research has shown that hands-on learning opportunities develop critical-thinking skills, and when youth ages 4 to 13 years old are involved in the learning process during the Program, it can help them build safety and health habits for when at home, at school, on the farm or in their rural communities.

Farm and ranch families comprise less than 2% of the United States population.

As generations continue to be further removed from the farm, learning about safety and health through the PAF Safety Day program extends well beyond the youth participants, while preparing them for what to do when visiting a farm and explaining the dangers that can be present. It is estimated that 25 million youth visit farms, with 95% of those being considered as a frequent or occasional visitor. A visit to a farm can also help educate the entire family. Seeing a tractor or an animal on the farm may prompt a child to remember a fun activity in which he or she participated during the Program, resulting in story-sharing while simultaneously teaching others in the family, ensuring everyone's safety during the visit.

Nearly 20,000 volunteers provide education each year to youth on rural safety and health.

From emergency personnel to FFA members to cooperative Extension professionals, the sprawling makeup of the 20,000 volunteers positions each PAF Safety Day program to engage members across the community. For the teen volunteers, such as 4-H and FFA members, it provides leadership development through teen teaching, public speaking and decision-making.

It costs less than $100 to become a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day Coordinator.

Schools, organizations and households are continuing to stretch each dollar farther, which is one of the many reasons it is important to the Progressive Agriculture Foundation to keep Program costs affordable in local communities. A small annual fee provides PAF Safety Day Coordinators with the training needed to implement the program, peer-reviewed curriculum on more than 30 safety and health topics aligning with STEM education, year-round access to the Foundation and its content experts, participant and volunteer T-shirts, take-home bags the PAF Safety Day Coordinator can fill with supplemental educational content to send home with the child and more.

To learn more about the PAF Safety Day program and how to get involved today, visit https://www.progressiveag.org/… or call 888.257.3529.

**

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

-- FIND US ONLINE: Visit https://www.progressiveag.org/…, or call us at 888-257-3529.

-- Donate today to the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program. Text SAFETYDAY to 44321.

-- The Progressive Agriculture Foundation (PAF) is proud to be recognized as a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity. Additionally, PAF has a 3-star rating with Charity Navigator and was awarded a Platinum Seal of Transparency with GuideStar. All donations are tax-deductible.

[PF_1122]

(c) Copyright 2022 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.