Hazelene McCray, Drew County extension staff chair and family and consumer sciences agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, was recently recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Monticello-Drew County Chamber of Commerce.
“All small towns rely on a few of the same people to do a lot of different things, and Hazelene is one of those people,” said Glenda Nichols, executive director of the Monticello-Drew County Chamber of Commerce. “You can depend on her to be an asset to whatever committee or organization she serves on. She brings her A-game every time.”
McCray joined the Division of Agriculture in 2006 as an extension family and consumer sciences agent in Desha County, where she worked until transferring to Drew County in 2011. McCray received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas at Monticello and her master’s degree in workforce development education from the University of Arkansas.
McCray said her favorite part of working for extension is “making a difference in others’ lives and reaching other people to tell them about our programs.”
John D. Anderson, extension director for the Division of Agriculture, said McCray exemplifies the impact that extension county agents can make in their communities.
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“Being recognized with this Lifetime Achievement Award is an important and well-deserved testament to Hazelene’s efforts in Drew County,” Anderson said. “She has truly gone above and beyond to serve her community and reach Arkansans where they are with the vital resources that extension provides, helping to improve lives and impact future generations.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
“I really enjoy working with workforce development; I have a love for that,” McCray said.
After learning about different sources of financial support to help Arkansans further their education or receive job training, McCray formed a committee of 13 people to provide job readiness training and share funding opportunities with young people ages 18-24. McCray said she continues to work with Arkansas Career Pathways, the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership and Phoenix Youth and Family Services to help youths “take steps to better themselves.”
“I’m the seventh child of 11, and I grew up on a farm,” McCray said. “When I finished high school, I started working. I worked for a company for four months shy of 28 years. While I was working, I was taking classes and going to school. But I didn’t have anybody to tell me about ways to get funding and be able to go to school. So that’s important to me — to try and help young people get an early start on their education.”
As a family and consumer sciences agent, McCray has also been involved in nutrition education in Drew County, including through local food pantries, where she taught food demonstrations and shared resources about extension programs. In 2025, McCray said her extension team took a new approach to reaching community members through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s High Obesity Program grant.
“I contacted three farmers in the county and asked them if they would donate fresh vegetables and fruits that they did not sell, or that they had too many of, and we would distribute them to seniors in the county,” McCray said. “Our agriculture agent took part in it, and two of the farmers donated. They gave us more than 1,700 pounds of fruit and vegetables.
“That was really great, getting to see the faces of the seniors when they would receive the fresh produce,” McCray said.
McCray said she is particularly proud of a project she worked on with a group of special needs adults through Advantages of Southeast Arkansas, an organization that provides support and services to children and adults with disabilities.
“I started out working with them doing nutrition education, and then they became a project club for Extension Homemakers Council clubs,” McCray said. “EHC clubs would go in with this group of adults and do different programming. For example, if it was going to be Valentine’s Day, they may do Valentine’s Day crafts together. An EHC sewing club went in and they made pillows. Then, they put their work together and entered it into the county fair.
“Just seeing the participants get checks for their hard work and seeing them learn new skills and be involved in different programs, it meant a lot to me,” McCray said. “When I see those adults out in the community now, they come up and speak to me and hug me. It’s moving, because I know I have impacted their life.”
For that project, McCray received the Innovation in Programming Award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 2019. McCray said that this year, she plans to do a garden program with a group of youths at Advantages of Southeast Arkansas.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
In addition to her extension work, McCray serves on many boards in her community and throughout Arkansas, including the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund and the executive board of the Drew County Health Coalition. She has previously served as a board member of the Drew County Boys & Girls Club and is an ex-officio member of the Drew County Fair Board.
Nichols said McCray’s efforts with the Drew County Fair have helped “keep this tradition alive in our community.”
“Hazelene takes a front row seat on the efforts that volunteers offer up,” Nichols said. “Anything to do with promoting community groups and displaying items that they’ve created, she has made sure that we kept that going in Drew County.”
Nichols said the Monticello-Drew Chamber of Commerce chose McCray for the Lifetime Achievement Award because of her longstanding efforts to improve life in the community.
“There comes a time when you need to lift these people up who do all the different volunteer jobs in the community that keep the town moving forward,” Nichols said. “She helps to make Monticello a more excellent place to live, that’s what Hazelene does.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
Rebekah Hall is with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.