Sumter County Extension Office

What’s in the bag?

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About Sumter County

Founded in 1832, Sumter County was named after Gen. Thomas Sumter of South Carolina. Sumter County is a small rural county located in the Black Belt Region of West Central Alabama with a population of 13,306. The population is approximately 79% Black, 19% White, and 2% Hispanic and other.

There are four elementary and middle schools, two high schools one  university, and one private school. There are seven towns located in Sumter County with Livingston and York being large enough to fall in the city category. Agriculture is still a main source of income in Sumter County. The major farm commodities include beef, forestry, forages, and catfish. Seventy percent of the county's 921 square miles are forested. Major industries are Chemical Waste Management, Sonoco Forestry Products, Mannington Wood Floor, Big River Industries, Livingston Box, Prystup, and McElroy Truck Lines, Inc.

Sumter County families are living in a world of change. Extension programs will continue to aim at helping them to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to cope with their future. Education programs will focus on six main program areas designed to meet the needs of Sumter County citizens. They are: agriculture, forestry and natural resources, urban and nontraditional programs, family and individual well-being, community and economic development, and 4-H and youth development.

The Extension office has two full-time and four part-time employees. Active programs include NEP, TGIF, 4-H summer camp, kids fishing derby, EFNEP, forestry and natural resources, farm safety day camp, water festival, and hunter education. The county's 4-H program involves 625 youth.

OFFICE STAFF

Willie Lampley, County Extension Coordinator

David Perry, REA

Tallitha Lawson, EFNEP   

Mozelle Dixon, NEP

Darlene B. Sanders, Administrative Assistant

Jerlinda Yates, Fill-in Secretary