The problem - Breathitt County’s poverty rate was at 34.3% in 2016. Breathitt County’s Agent for 4-H Youth Development believes that the best way to combat this issue is to teach the children of Breathitt County about the leadership skills they need to achieve, and to be able to overcome the problems of poverty.

The educational program response- The agent works to focus on this by taking 4-H’ers each year to the J.M. Feltner 4-H Camp located in London, Kentucky. While at camp 4-H’ers learn valuable life skills by leading hands-on projects, learning about civic engagement, and the importance of a good education.

The participants/target audience- The agent's target audience is youth ages 9 - 18, which is the 4-H program age.

Other partners (if applicable)

Program impact or participant response- The cost to attend camp last year was $275 per camper, and this fee can often be an obstacle to many of the 4-H age youth of Breathitt County. To help remove the majority of this money obstacle the agent aided by his council continued to run the Breathitt County 4-H corn dog booth during the 2023 Breathitt County Honey Festival. Once the event was completed the total sales equaled 12,018 corn dogs and a profit of over $30,000. With this money the 4-H’ers of Breathitt County can to continue to only have to pay $25 to attend 4-H camp, which cuts the cost of camp by 89%. The agent feels that this is a great success to be able to help the youth of the county and looks forward to continuing the 4-H Corn dog booth each year in the future.