So many times you hear parents say, “Wow, I didn't know that 4-H had so much to offer,” after their child has participated in a few activities. 4-H is sometimes still stereotyped as being just for “farm kids” when in reality the possibilities are endless. In order to promote the Taylor County 4-H Program to the community, the local council planned and implemented a large scale event that would showcase all of the wonderful things 4-H has to offer to youth and to create awareness for the parents. The event was named “4-H 4 All” by a council member and was held for the first time in August 2009 with over 300 people in attendance and was a huge success. In 2019, 225 people attended. The event was covered by the local paper and over $900 in items were donated as door prizes or as given as monetary donations. Flyers were distributed around town by adult volunteers to publicize the event. Approximately 3,000 school aged children were given a flyer at school to take home as well. A variety of booths were available for kids to try out the different activities that 4-H offers, from playing country ham jeopardy, sewing on a sewing machine, examining their fingerprints,  seed identification, driving a pedal tractor around an obstacle course to visiting with farm animals. Participants engaged in “hands on” activities as they traveled to each booth. What better way to show people what 4-H is all about and to go along with the 4-H motto, “Learn by Doing.” A goody bag filled with information was distributed along with a passport at the beginning of the event. Volunteers at each booth stamped the passports as the kids participated in the different activities. At the end of the day completed passports were used to draw for the door prizes.
Approximately 125 youth discovered the variety of 4-H projects and activities available to them and over 60 kids signed up to be included on club mailing lists. Many of these children will go on to participate in 4-H and according to a Tufts University study, youth who participate in 4-H are 4 times more likely to attend college.
Each booth was also staffed by a 4-H member and a volunteer and/or leader who were familiar with that particular club or activity. A sign up list was also offered at each station for youth to sign up to receive more information about activities they were interested in. Over 60 youth and adult volunteers helped in every aspect of the event from planning, set-up, manning a booth and take-down. 4-H 4 All has been a success for the past ten years.