08/24/2026
Salute to a very own AT&T Pioneer Kyla Moore
The Mississippi Community Volunteers organization is the latest way Kyla Moore has embraced the volunteer spirit she’s had her whole life.
Moore started volunteering as a child and continued through her career with AT&T and is now retired and part of the Scooba MCV club, a volunteer organization coordinated by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
“My mother was the adult volunteer who went with us to do everything in school,” Moore said. “That instilled in me the understanding that you need to get out and help people and do whatever needs to be done.”
Participating in Future Homemakers of America, now known as Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, in her Texas high school, she learned sewing, cooking and more, and she volunteered her time. At AT&T, the company expected senior employees to do volunteer work, so Moore helped build wheelchair ramps and update school playgrounds.
Today, this MHV superstar offers a wide range of volunteer services, from buying and distributing gifts for the veteran home in Kosciusko, having monthly birthday parties for the nursing home to keeping up the planters in downtown Scooba. Other projects include serving cookies three times a year to travelers who stop at the visitor center in Meridian, and making tote bags of classroom supplies for the area’s public school teachers.
“I have always embraced the volunteer spirit, and I carried that forward to when I retired and could get involved with the homemakers in Kemper County,” Moore said.
She is now in her 20th year of volunteering with the Scooba MCV club. She became council president a few years after joining MCV and has served as club president for nine years. She is now MCV state council secretary, a position she has held since 2022.
The Kemper County MCV Council meets at the farmers market in Kemper County each Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They visit with each other, work on crafts and plan community events.
The organization agreed on a name change earlier this year after 108 years of being called the Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers. Moore is optimistic this name change will appeal to a wider base of people and encourage the organization to get back to some of its educational roots.
Some of those roots include food preservation, and Moore said after Extension personnel taught the group some canning classes, they now offer classes of their own.
“We just did an apple jelly class, and we will do strawberry jam this summer,” Moore said. “These classes are not just for homemakers, but we offer them to the public. We have also worked with the 4-Hers on a canning class.”
When the club has a new idea of something they want to learn or do, they enlist the always available help of Malikah Jones, MSU Extension agent in Kemper County.
“Kyla Moore has been a dedicated and dependable volunteer within the Mississippi Community Volunteers program for many years, and I have personally had the privilege of knowing and working alongside her for the past 14 years,” Jones said. “She has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to service, leadership and community involvement.
“Kyla is actively involved in every aspect of this organization through her volunteerism with both youth and adults,” she said. “She faithfully assists with 4-H activities and supports every initiative led by our local council.”
Jones said Moore is part of a strong and dedicated team of community volunteers who work collectively to support Extension programming and community outreach efforts.
“Their commitment and teamwork have played an important role in the success of many local initiatives and service projects,” Jones said.
Moore’s willingness to serve wherever needed reflects her passion for Extension work and community engagement.
“Beyond community-related activities, she continuously supports Extension programs and is always willing to offer suggestions and ideas,” she said.
Originally from Lubbock, Texas, Moore moved to the Jackson area in 1981. She now lives in Kemper County with her husband of 43 years, Harold Moore. 
