Carroll County 4-H agent Joyce Doyle receives Distinguished Service Award

A Cooperative Extension Service agent from Carroll County has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky Volunteer Forum (KVF).

Joyce Doyle, extension agent for 4-H Youth Development, was recognized earlier this year according to an article by Dr. Ken Culp III, associate professor and principal extension specialist.

Culp said Doyle was recognized and honored for her “tireless service to Kentucky 4-H and the Kentucky Volunteer Forum” and for her energy and demeanor in promoting 4-H and KVF throughout the state.

Doyle has served on the KVF Planning Committee 10 years including five different forums, which happen every two years. She has recruited more than 65 people per year to attend the KVF including a record 110 volunteers this past year.

Doyle’s volunteers have introduced at least five new projects, programs, clubs, and events annually including a new community service program introduced this year to make dresses to send to girls in Africa.

This year’s forum took place in Lexington at the Central Bank Convention Center. Doyle always attends the forums, but she knew something was different when she saw her daughter, Candy Lynn Ailtock, and entire family in attendance.

“I had no idea I was getting it,” Doyle said of the award. “I was fully surprised.”

In addition to her family, many of Doyle’s volunteers and coworkers from the extension office also attended the ceremony, including Family and Consumer Science Extension Agent Christy Eastwood, extension staff assistant Rhonda Welch, and Elizabeth Mefford, who all joined with others to give her a standing ovation.

“Candy Lynn said that it was well deserved,” Doyle said. “ ‘Mom … You deserve it. You work hard; you give everything you have to those kids.’ And I do. If a kid needs something, they know I’m right here and that I’ll help them in any way I can, the same with my volunteers.”

Mefford said she felt extreme pride in Doyle and for her win. “We all know that you’re wonderful and you’re the most wonderful 4-H agent ever on the planet Earth,” she said.

Doyle began working as the 4-H assistant in Grant County in 2003 and served in that role for three years. She then served as the 4-H Youth Development agent for six years when the 4-H program experienced unprecedented growth and expansion in enrollment and volunteer involvement.

Doyle transferred to the Carroll County Extension Service in 2012 and has been 4-H Youth Development agent ever since.

Doyle said she came to Carroll County because she likes a challenge and with few volunteers in place at Carroll County when she arrived a challenge is what she got and what she has overcome.

“In 4-H, you’ve got to have volunteers; you cannot run a program by yourself in the 4-H world because there’s so many different areas and no one person can know all these areas,” she said, sharing her achievements with those who have volunteered over the years.