Author: Elijah Wilson
Major Program: Volunteer Development
Volunteering has a significant impact on people and communities. The measurable impacts of volunteering go well beyond what some volunteers realize. Community service has significant economic and social effects. Time is money. When people donate their time to volunteer causes, it has a tremendous economic impact. The Volunteer Measurement Project (VMP), conducted by Johns Hopkins University, found that approximately 62.6 million people in the U.S contributed 8 billion hours of work
In July of 2022, the Cumberland County 4-H Program and the University of Kentucky were awarded additional from the National 4-H Council to continue research focused on youth development and the Cumberland County 4-H Mentorship Program. The continued funding of $4,500 makes it possible to eliminate the number one reason why youth do not participate in many 4-H programs, cost. All 4-H activities and projects that are offered as part of the mentorship program are free. The initial funding of $
Author: Brian Walker
The year started off great with a new partnership that wanted to do programming at the Rosenwald 4-H Youth Development Center. This partnership was a first, homeschool groups have always got together to do programming at home. The parents wanted to try something new and give their children the opportunity to do things that they couldn't provide at the moment. This partnership all started at the Farmer's Market where they saw the 4-H team doing hands-on activities and asked if we could do
Author: Ralph Hance
Trimble County has a dedicated group of volunteers who attend 4-H Camp each year. This year we had one volunteer with more than 18 years experience, another two with more than 12 years’ experience, and Three who has come completely through the program as camper, teen, and now adults. Teen volunteers are very important in being able to relate to the campers and being role models. The teens also made sure that the campers were on time and participated in all camp functions. 4-H Camp is a gre
Author: Ken Culp
Volunteers deliver Extension programs to audiences that would not otherwise be involved and extend the outreach of Extension and Extension professionals. Volunteers multiply the efforts of Extension professionals and paraprofessionals by providing talents, resources, skills, services, and abilities that in many cases, Extension may be unable to afford to pay for. The Kentucky 4-H Volunteer Program focuses on supporting agents in generating, educating, mobilizing, and sustaining volunt
Volunteers are an essential component of 4-H programs and extend delivery methods to clientele who otherwise might not be served (Steele, 1994). Volunteers have a wide range of responsibilities in 4-H and Extension programs. They are vital to issues-based programming and are key components in accomplishing national initiatives for Cooperative Extension (Patton, 1990). Extension agents involve volunteers by asking them to engage in a variety of roles and duties and to accept re
Author: Janet Turley
The Warren County 4-H Shooting Sports Program has a long history of a strong and vibrant program with 60-80 enrolled participants and a large group of certified coaches. After the pandemic, many parents were interested in getting their children out of the house and into the great outdoors and found that the 4-H shooting sports program was a perfect fit. In 2022 enrollment in the shooting sports program jumped 43% to 103 participants and in 2023 enrollment increased to 123 participants. This incr
Author: Anna Denny
On April 28, 2023, youth members of the Breckinridge County 4-H Treble Chorus participated in their Spring Choir Camp themed, "All Things 4-H". Not only did they rehearse for their upcoming performances throughout the day, but they participated in activities that highlighted the different program areas Kentucky 4-H has to offer.Marie Heard, the 4-H Homeschool Club Leader and instructor at the Breckinridge County Optimist Club, led the youth in a healthy living Cardio Drumming lesson wh
Author: Sherri Farley
A new group of 4-H volunteers is in progress due to the offering of multiple adult embroidery classes. After a Facebook post yielded multiple requests for an adult class for embroidery, an initial class was held. 14 adults attended this class and enjoyed themselves so much that they stayed over an hour longer than the class end time. All of the attendees had been involved in 4-H either as youth or volunteers with various programs and projects such as camp, clubs, and fair projects. A majority of
Author: Julia McCloud
4-H is a volunteer-based organization that utilizes funds from fundraisers, sponsors, and donors to offer programming, clubs, and actives to youth at the most affordable prices possible. The Pendleton County 4-H club works with the Kentucky Wool festival to sell drinks for the 3-day event which serves as an incredible fundraiser for the county 4-H program. This fundraiser takes numerous helping hands to make this work to serve the thousands of people the festival brings in.This year, the wool fe
Author: John (Connor) Cooper
Like many counties, Hopkins County 4-H had been severely impacted by the lasting impacts of Covid-19. Youth participants along with adult volunteers had decreased. In order to pick numbers back up we knew we had to do something. On August 16th we held a 4-H Kickoff event. The goal of the event was to promote all of our clubs, attract new youth, and gain new volunteers. In order to entice the community to come, we had free T-shirts, free hotdogs, an ice cream truck, and three inflatables for kids
Author: Casey Townsend
Frankfort Independent School District has Fall Break for 3 weeks each week during Fall Break. A community partner from Bridging the Gap decided to bring a group of 1st-11th graders to the Rosenwald Center for programs to explore what the center has to offer. Students worked on public speaking, and the 4-H Deep Water STEM Challenge. Youth expressed interest in DJing as tool to enhance their public speaking skills.
Author: Danielle Kinder
10/27/2022Title: Celebrate KSU Day at the Franklin County Farmers Market and what has grown from it.This story all starts at Celebrate KSU day on September 17th at the Franklin County Farmers Market. The KSU 4-H Youth Development team set up a booth at the farmers market planning to educate the community on what 4-H is and what KSU 4-H has to offer. We spoke to at least 50 people and had 26 community members sign up to volunteer. These community members had areas of expertise in topics ranging f
Author: Katie Mills
After spending time brainstorming on how to get one of the best kept secrets out, 4-H, we decided to host a 4-H Kickoff. This was the perfect opportunity to show the community all the clubs and projects that Hopkins County 4-H has to offer. For the event, we rented bounce houses, had Hopkins County Adult Livestock Club provide hotdogs, and a volunteer from each club or project host a table. We hosted this event right before the 4-H season kicked off in the late summer and schools were just start
Author: Kellsey Agnew
According to a survey completed by the University of Nevada, Reno Extension; Teens say the benefits received from completing service projects in their communities are learning to respect others; learning to be helpful and kind; learning to understand people who are different; developing leadership skills, becoming more patient, and better understanding of citizenship. This month was the first meeting of Campbell County 4-H Teen Leadership for the new program year. This program is open
Author: Heather Coleman
I am so thankful that my mom talked my shy, little, 3rd grade self into attending 4-H camp after much hesitation all those years ago. My mom tried and tried to convince me that I would love 4-H camp, but I didn't believe her. I thought that I would hate staying away from my family for 5 days, not knowing everyone there, and trying new things. As a kid change scared me; I liked being comfortable and not being pushed out of my comfort zone. When I first arrived at 4-H camp, I immediately
