This year was a continuation of a six-year overhaul to the 4-H summer camping program in Estill County. Today the program is a strong and vibrant example of what a summer camping program in a rural county can be and what positive effects it can have on the youth and adults who choose to participate in it. The Camping program is well supported by the community, partnering organizations, parents, and the school system. 

Situation

In 1999 the Estill County Summer camping program began its long and slow decline that would last over a decade. The county had taken 49 youth and adults to camp in 1999 and in 2012 had only 11 individuals attend camp. This prompted a serious conversation with 4-H Council and Extension Council leadership about what had caused this drastic reduction in numbers and how it could be turned around so that more youth would receive the benefits of attending summer camp. 

Educational response

A multiyear plan was laid out to completely over hall the camping program. The areas that were targeted where: Recruitment, Leadership, Camp Space, Teens, Camping philosophy, and Cost. The camp program launched a sponsorship to complement the scholarship program in 2013. This program targeted companies that would or could donate to the whole group but not an individual camper. This allowed the cost of camp to be reduced so that it became more affordable to campers that same year an additional day was added to camp to provide more camp for the amount of money spent. The 4-H program went to new donors and added two new fundraisers to provide more scholarships for those who could not afford camp. 

Estill County also moved to a new camping group that had a surplus of beds so that there was no risk of running out of beds and strangling the program completely out. That year Estill County launched its Cloverbud camping program to recruit youth as young as 6 into the camping program and help boost the 4-H camp numbers as these campers became old enough to attend regular camp. That first year Estill County took a delegation of 3 to Cloverbud camp at North Central 4-H Camp. 

A teen councilor club was created in 2015 to work with the teen councilors all year long preparing them to be camp counselors, and a camp committee was created out of the adult counselors to provide them with the ability to change and improve camp in new and innovative ways. An overnight teen training was introduced to help new teens become comfortable with the camp and meet the leadership team within the cabin. 

Training and research were used to shift county and 4-H leadership’s mentality from camp being a requirement to camp being an important part of 4-H’s mission of youth development. Recruitment efforts were moved up to start in August and the Estill County Extension District Board stepped in to support the program allowing for a drastic reduction in cost. Most recently the Counselor In Training program has been overhauled to help retain 14 to 15-year-old youth who will make good camp counselors and Estill County moved into a camping group that shares the same camping philosophy and camp rues to allow for a smoother camp. 

Target Audience

The camping program in Estill County targets individuals 6 and up.

Outcomes

The outcomes of this multiyear revitalization of the 4-H Camping program in Estill County are A camping program that had 125 individuals attend camp in 2018, a 1068% increase in 6 years. The development and launch of Cloverbud Camp at J.M. Feltner 4-H camp which had over 140 individuals from 8 counties in attendance in 2018. The development of a 4-H Leadership club and an increase in Teen Conference and Teen Summit participation. The introduction of a CIT training program at 4-H Camp. Well over half of the 20 adult and teen leaders at camp having been campers with the Estill County Program. The 1^st Cloverbud camper from Estill County becoming a Teen Leader at Cloverbud camp, and the financial support from the Estill County Extension District Board.