PAF Safety Day Coordinator Spotlight: Amy Rademaker

Have you ever considered the return of investment regarding your volunteer time?

Amy Rademaker with the Carle Center for Rural Health and Farm Safety in Urbana, Illinois, does and shares that if a child’s life was saved due to a lesson that they learned at a Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® (PAF Safety Day), then the return on that volunteer investment was priceless.

In 2001 when Amy began her career with the Center, she fondly remembers flipping through a file left for her with information on an upcoming PAF Safety Day scheduled at a local, rural school. Now 22 years later, she has helped make a difference in the lives of 14,649 individuals who have participated in at least one of the 91 PAF Safety Days that she has coordinated.

“The trusted, credibility of the PAF Safety Day program among the agriculture community, makes gaining local support even easier,” said Amy. “Everything to implement the Program is in well packaged, comprehensive approach.

“The participants also love the t-shirts and take-home bags, which would not be possible with the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program.”

Amy’s safety-mind approach goes beyond her PAF Safety Day and role with the Center. She shares that her own children will not ride their bikes without a helmet and proper shoes – doesn’t matter who they are with or where they are going, without those, they won’t ride.

When asked what she would say to others who are thinking about partnering with the PAF Safety Day program, her answer is simple – “Why not?”

Amy added that the Program is very easy to follow and apply to the needs within the community, along with great resources made available. She also mentioned that while one could organize a safety and health program alone, the PAF Safety Day program makes it much easier to do.

This year, Amy has five PAF Safety Days scheduled in the Illinois towns of Onley, St. Joseph, Gibson City, Monticello and Georgetown.