The Earth Wellness Festival is a collaborative program and includes a steering committee of 11 local educational resource agencies. The outstanding collaboration and cooperation of the committee has contributed to the festival's success. The lead organization for this project is University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County with Arlene Hanna and Soni Ericksen, serving as co-chairs. The Earth Wellness Festival provides training for presenters and 200 volunteers. This festival helps youth recognize the relationships and interdependence of land, water, air, and living resources.
Youth identify human impact on the planet and determine steps of action to enrich the environment.
They also bring to their families and communities a renewed stewardship ethic toward the environment. It was also designed to handle routine caller inquiries to allow Extension staff more time for focused, program development and delivery. After seeing this technology demonstrated at a national meeting, Extension Educators formed a steering committee to work on the project. Over 50 Extension Educators and Specialists contributed scripts and information to the project. This leveraged personnel time by more than 1,300 hours during this three-month period.