During the pandemic I have really tried to see good in everything.  And guess what?  When you look for the positive you can find the positive. So it was time to think of others. When I looked up the definition of community service, the word work was always in the definition.  Well! I disagree.  I believe the word work should be replaced with the “joy” of doing for others without asking for anything in return.  Although you do not ask for something in return, it is amazing the joy you receive as well as the people you are serving.  Every Wednesday 100 “Snag A Bags” were put on our Extension Office front porch for pick up.  Bags contained educational materials that included items in each of the seven program areas.  This week is the twenty-ninth bag that has been picked up.  We served 2900 youth directly with these bags, reached over 6,000 residents with the newspaper, and on Facebook reached over 25,000 indirectly.   This was a great marketing tool and many new families are signing up for the 4-H program.  I just want to share some of the things that Carroll County 4-H members did for community service during this trying time.

Bluegrass Nursing Facility invited our dog club to come and participate in a “pooch parade”.  The members of the dog club walked their dog to every window where the residents would peck on the window and talk to the dog.

4-H Teen Club officers made 50 “Be Kind” signs for community people to pick up and place in their yard.   This was great because they are scattered all over our county.  Each small burg has a sign.

They made “sun catchers” for all of the windows at Fairview Place (an assisted living facility) and then visited the residents from the outside while hanging the sun catcher on their window.  Many of the residents were sitting at their window and expressed appreciation for their little present.

In March, four families took the word of the 4-H pledge and explained how the 4-H pledge supported the recommendations of the Governor in the beginning of Covid-19

It is good to remind your 4-H members of the following:  "We make a living with what we get, but we make a life with what we give."  Winston Churchill

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."  Albert Einstein

"Love cannot remain by itself - it has no meaning.  Love has to be put into action and that action is service."  Mother Teresa