The problem was that we have a large and diverse community within Hardin County that may not be familiar with 4-H positive youth development. We felt that the community could benefit from being given an opportunity to meet the 4-H community at the Hardin County Extension Office. We felt like there was a large amount of youth and families who were interested in 4-H but not sure how it works or what to do to be involved. 

The educational program response was quite large and successful. We had each 4-H community club, informational booths (volunteering, 4-H Sumer Camp, classes), and community partners in attendance for each visitor to meet. 

The participants/target audience were families with 4-H age youth. 

Other partners (if applicable) were Devers Teen Center that is located on Fort Knox. Devers do offer 4-H Clubs at their facility with 4-H leaders but they were also able to talk about other programs with families from Fort Knox. We also had a guest vendor sell their signature lemonade and kettle corn. The best part is the Hardin County Farmers Market donated enough ice cream back to 4-H that we were able to offer a 4-H Discover Passport. This Discovery Passport was given to each youth participant and they were given a carnival challenge. The challenge was to visit every booth at the carnival to meet the members and ask questions and to mark their passport. After they successfully completed their passport and had a mark from each club, they earned a free ice cream that was donated by the HCFM!

We were able to get at least 112 4-H age youth to meet all Hardin County 4-H Community Clubs, learn about adult volunteering, 4-H Summer Camp, sewing class, and Devers Teen Center 4-H Clubs. They met each booth which was a total of 11 different topics having to do with Hardin County 4-H. The Clubs included Feathers and Fluff Club (rabbit, poultry, cavies), Horse Club, Dog Club, Shooting Sports, Cloverbuds, Livestock Club, Homeschool, Beekeeping Club, and 4-H Council. We also had a sign-up of 7 adults that agreed to help with various volunteering opportunities. During the Carnival we had a rotating orientation schedule. Each orientation session was the same with the same information but they got to choose which session they attended through the evening. The orientation session was a 4-H 101 style presentation. They also had the opportunity to fill out 4-H enrollment forms and receive an updated club calendar schedule. As a result, multiple clubs saw an increase in new member participation at their following monthly meeting. Hardin County 4-H plans to do this 4-H Carnival and Welcome Orientation annually and learn from the previous year to make it better.