Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association (KEHA) members participated in the National Volunteer Outreach Network, Inc. (NVON) annual conference July 18-20, 2023, in Parkersburg, W.V. This year’s conference theme was “Plant Many Seeds – Brighten Our Future.” The event included four days of meetings, classes, displays, food, entertainment, and seeing friends from nine other states. Kentucky had seven attending: Brenda Hammons, Marilyn Watson, Lois Pressgrove, Karen Hill, Harlene Welch, and Harlene’s daughter and grandson.

“All of us that attended were so proud of our accomplishments as KEHA Members,” said KEHA President Brenda Hammons.

Kentucky has the largest membership in NVON with 11,226 members. Each state gave a president’s report and shared information about their state organizations. Harlene Welch was elected as NVON treasurer for the next three years. She just completed seven years as KEHA’s state treasurer.

The NVON conference took place at the historic Blennerhassett Hotel in downtown Parkersburg. Attendees had the opportunity to tour the hotel and visit the Blennerhassett island mansion.

“We traveled by riverboat and rode on a covered wagon to tour the plantation lands. The mansion was beautiful and showed extreme wealth for the time this historic mansion was built,” Hammons said.

The next NVON conference will be July 16-18, 2024, in Asheville, N.C., at the Hilton-Biltmore.

KEHA is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to education, leadership, and volunteer service. To learn more, like and follow the organization’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/officialKEHA or visit www.keha.org.

Written by Brenda Hammons, KEHA President, and Kelly May, KEHA State Advisor, University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension

August 2023