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 volunteer efforts.  Volunteers serve the program in a variety of ways.   These include formal roles, involving club leaders (project and community clubs), camping volunteers (counselors, counselors in training, junior counselors, class instructors, etc.) and 4-H Council officers and members.  Informal volunteer roles are often episodic or involve a specific event, contest, or activity.  These roles might involve assisting with a local speech or demonstration contest by serving as a judge, timer, or room host, assisting with Reality Store, providing refreshments for a 4-H meeting, chaperoning a field trip, coordinating a fundraising activity, organizing a service project, teaching a workshop or class, or simply assisting the 4-H club volunteer leader in any number of ways.

Extension relies heavily upon its partnerships with individual counties, and the collaboration that we build with local stakeholders.  Extension celebrates our collaborative collaborations with teams of 4-H volunteers as well as community partners and stakeholder groups, recognizing the impact that they made in their local communities.

Some of the highest functioning and most impactful teams of 4-H volunteers and youth include the following:

Barren County Festival of Giving

The Barren County 4-H Festival of Giving Team, comprised of adults and teens, was organized to conduct community service projects.  The needs of many residents in nursing homes and mental health facilities, terminally ill youth, animals, and other youth have been addressed through a Festival of Giving.  The program has provided innovative ways to communicate the “art of caring” to other in Barren County.  The Barren County 4-H Program has been identified as a strong community service advocate thanks to the efforts of the 4-H Festival of Giving Team’s efforts.

Henderson County Team

Several youth and adult volunteers from Henderson County 4-H were asked to paint an 18-foot semi-trailer to be placed along a busy parkway.   Youth and volunteers worked together in a two-week time span to plan, design, create, and execute this artful marketing piece.  The trailer includes the 4-H pledge, the Kentucky 4-H brain logo, a big 4-H clover, and “Henderson is 4-H Proud”.  This artwork now serves as a 4-H marketing piece for the tri-state area and their 4-H programs.  Henderson County is proud of the accomplishment of this creative design and how it helps to promote 4-H.

Simpson County FRYSC & SCSC

The Simpson County School District Family Resource Youth Service Center (FRYSC) coordinators and the Community Education director partners with 4-H to work as a “TEAM” and integrates Extension’s youth programs throughout their schools.  These programs include Classroom Chick incubation, Environmental Field Day, Blender Bike, Dollars & Cents, measurement Labs, Leadership Speech Class, Lego Robotics, Safety Day, Container Gardening, Explore Agriculture, Look-A-Likes, Health Fair, Health Rocks, S.T.O.P., and multiple nutrition classes.   Community Education utilizes the Extension Service as a community partner for the district’s Night of Innovation, STEAM Night, Back to School Bash, and Elf Connection.  

4 the Love of Horses – Warren County

4 the Love of Horses was created for horseless club members and horse crazy kids who couldn’t get enough of horses.  This new Warren County 4-H program went beyond the monthly horse club meetings to involve 4-H members with additional hands-on learning and engagement with horses.  Participants visited an equine farm monthly to learn about horse ownership and to apply “hippology” type information in a real-world setting.  One meeting included learning about horse markings.   Participants were given a picture of a horse that resided on the farm and had to find the horse with the markings, catch and halter the horse with assistance from the 4 the Love of Horses team members and lead the horse to the barn to share their findings with other horse club members.  

Warren County 4-H Leadership Club

Leaders of the Pond is a group of 4-H teens and tweens using their leadership skills to promote 4-H and engage students in an after-school childcare setting.   The “team” was formed in September 2019 and partnered with Rich Pond Elementary School to conduct a series of after-school sessions to educate students about the 4-H program and to recruit them to join 4-H.  Projects the team focuses on included: leadership, team building, problem solving, and SET projects.  Leaders of the Pond Members had fun engaging the after-school childcare participants with teambuilding activities such as group juggle, cup stacking, ships and sailors, and 4.4.4-H.  Members also incorporated SET projects by teaching about bridge building using gum drops and toothpicks.  A total of 80 youth, K-6^th grades, participated in the Rich Pond Elementary School after-school program which was led by 11 Warren County 4-H Leadership Club members.

Some of the most noteworthy partnerships with community stakeholders include:

Daviess County Cattlemen’s Association

The Daviess County 4-H Feeder Calf Project is a successful collaboration between 4-H and the Daviess County Cattlemen’s Association.  DCCA volunteers contribute countless hours of time and talent to the project which involves the 4-H’er purchasing one or two feeder calves during the first week of April each year.  The participant is then responsible for the care and feeding of those calves for the duration of the project ending when the calves are sold at the August CPH sale.  Youth are encouraged to halter break their calves and exhibit them at the Daviess County Fair.  They are required to submit a record book which details weights, health care and feeding for their project to be considered complete.  This project has been a positive influence in the lives of hundreds of Daviess County youth, and the DCCA has been a crucial force behind the project for its entire 21-year history.

Harrison County Conservation District

The Harrison County Soil & Water Conservation District has been an active partner with the Harrison County 4-H Program for many years.  The conservation district coaches the 4-H Land Judging Team, leading two teams to the National Land Judging Contest in Oklahoma.   Kayleigh Evans (from Soil Conservation) coaches the team, providing weekly practices during the spring.  The County Conservation District also sponsors the Land Judging Program by sponsoring contest premiums, providing apparel, and travel expenses to state and national contests.  This partnership benefits the Conservation District, 4-H and introduces the importance of natural resources to youth.

Hart County Farm Bureau Federation

The Hart County Farm Bureau Federation has made numerous contributions to the Hart County 4-H Program by sponsoring the Hart County 4-H All Star Awards annually, including livestock projects, 4-H market livestock premium show, camp scholarships, livestock shows, camp scholarships, and the banquet sponsor.  The Hart County Farm Bureau Federation practices investing in the future of agriculture by investing in 4-H youth.

Tractor Supply County Distribution Center – Simpson County

During the pandemic, the Simpson County Extension Office received an increase in requests from families wanting to grow their own vegetables.  The agents collaborated with TSC to develop “Community Container Garden Kits”.  TSC donated the necessary supplies for families to create the container garden kids, including seeds or plants, containers, bags of potting soil, and educational publications.  550 families in Simpson County grew fresh vegetables to feed their families.  Many of the participants were first-time gardeners and new Extension clientele.

Green River Gun Club – Warren County

The Green River Gun Club has provided continual support to the Warren County 4-H Shooting Sports Program for 21 years.  More than 1,000 4-H members have benefitted from the partnership by utilizing the free practice range to accommodate rifle, BB, air rifle, pistol, archery, black powder, and trap.  The Green River Gun Club also dedicates one or two days each week throughout the summer exclusively for 4-H members’ use to create a “safe zone” so that 4-H members and coaches can follow all safety protocols.

The partnerships and collaborations with these groups and organizations have expanded the outreach of 4-H throughout their communities across the commonwealth, creating an impact more powerful, than anything that we could have accomplished by ourselves.