On January 29, 2009, faculty at Allen County Extension in Ohio received word that they would not be receiving local funds.  Without this funding, Extension along with 4‑H would no longer exist.  When the news spread to Allen County 4-H’ers, they immediately took action. Emily Lhamon, their Junior Fairboard secretary and Emily Perrin, Junior Fairboard president, both seniors this year, decided to take matters into their own hands and created a Facebook group to spread awareness of the fate of their 4-H program. 

“Through the positive power of  social networking, using sites like Facebook and texting on cell phones, these amazing youth helped mobilize people in support of their program,” said Mark Light, 4-H educator at Allen County OSU Extension.

On January 30, the Facebook group had over 400 fans and numerous messages of support.  The 4-H’ers then posted another message urging supporters to attend a meeting the next day on Saturday, January 31, where the funding situation would be discussed.  Three hundred people came out and received word that the county needed $50,000 by Monday, February 2 to keep 4-H running.  After the meeting, an update message was posted to the Facebook group stating how much was needed to be raised.  By Sunday, February 1, the Facebook group had over 1,000 fans.  On Monday, February 2, 80 adults and youth showed up to the meeting and exceeded the amount needed with $62,000 in pledges to keep the 4-H program and county fair operating for 2009.  It amazed their regional director that in less than 48 hours so much was raised. 

Due to the success of this effort, the youth continued to use these tactics to raise funds and awareness. As of May 2009, Allen County has raised $100,000 and their Facebook group has collected over 2,000 fans, and still growing.

On June 10th, more than 150 agriculture industry leaders from around the nation gathered in St. Louis for the Generation: Ag Summit.  Hosted jointly by National 4-H Council, Monsanto and DuPont,  gathered, the Summit sought to  bring together the top minds in agribusiness and higher education with the goal of determining ways to encourage young people to pursue college degrees and professional opportunities in the agricultural sciences.

“With over a century of experience in sparking youth interest in science, 4-H is strategically positioned to help agribusiness address workforce development issues by engaging the 6 million youth who actively participate in 4-H,” said Donald T. Floyd, Jr., National 4-H Council president and CEO.

In response to the nation’s ag workforce development dilemma, 4-H is developing a new customizable, online learning system called Project Pathways. Created to spark early youth interest in the ag sciences, Project Pathways will  feature a wide variety of hands-on topics and activities from genetic engineering, agro-robotics and sustainable agriculture to product marketing, plant science, animal science and ag communications. Project Pathways was developed by the scientists and educators at land-grant universities.

“Inventive 4-H out-of-school programming like Project Pathways allows youth to be exposed to and engage in the sciences earlier, which has been shown to motivate youth to pursue a career in the sciences as adults,” said Floyd.

In his first public remarks since being confirmed, Dr. Rajiv Shah, the Under Secretary of Research, Education and Economics (REE) and Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, presented the keynote address.  Dr. Shah spoke about the importance of science to the future of America’s food and agriculture system—and the critical role that 4-H is playing in attracting a new generation of thinkers and innovators to the field.  “I applaud 4-H for its work to develop the next generation of agriculturally literate youth who will go on to become our country’s future innovative scientific minds.”

Dr. Rajiv Shah

Courtesy Warren County Public Information Department

On Thursday, June 18 four members of Warren County 4-H in New Jersey departed on a two-week trip to a youth camp outside Moscow, Russia. The 4-H Teen Council members Nick Pope, Spencer Ross, Danny Torretta, and Jeff Wilson will help Russian youth learn English, while sharing with them 4-H values and what life is like in the United States. Since January, the youth has been learning about Russian culture and team building, and all four worked at the Warren County Farmers’ Fair to help fund their trip.

The Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders presented the group with a proclamation saluting their efforts. “You young folks are going on the trip of a lifetime,” said Freeholder Director Richard D. Gardner. The proclamation expressed admiration and support for the group as they “serve as ambassadors working to enhance cross-cultural understanding.”

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Warren County 4-H members serve as teen ambassadors in Russia

4-H had a major presence this year at the 2009 Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Conference held in Baltimore, Md. on May 18-21. There were over 60 workshops and presentations that focused on 4-H and youth. The keynote lecture given by Bonnie Braun, Ph.D., discussed the importance of family and positive communities. Braun was Virginia’s first female 4-H director, and in her 32-year Extension career she has focused on reducing barriers among individuals, families and communities.

“CYFAR provides a wonderful networking and professional development opportunity for 4-H and Extension professionals,” said Aggie Wright, program specialist at the National 4-H Council. “Through the 4-H Family Strengthening Lecture, high-quality research and its practical implications can be shared with the system in a creative setting. Many who were able to attend have said they were impacted both professionally and personally.”

After the lecture, the five winners of the 2008 4-H Families Count: Family Strengthening Award were recognized. For this award, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, through their partnership with National 4-H Council, honors 4-H Programs of Distinction with $15,000 each to further help build supportive communities using the 4-H program.

On June 16, 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower presided over the opening ceremonies for the National 4-H Youth Conference Center. Fifty years later, Center is one of the largest non-academic youth education and conference facilities in America and continues to be the national home for 4-H, hosting annual 4-H conferences and year-round training programs for youth, volunteer leaders and professional staff.

During the anniversary party held at Center, five 4-H alumni joined Donald T. Floyd, Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council, to blow out the five candles on the birthday cake — each representing a decade of the Center’s existence.

Center hosts over 30,000 youth each year while they tour our Nation’s Capital, visit historical landmarks or attend conferences, meetings or leadership programs. First built in 1893 and later converted into a college for women, the National 4-H Foundation bought the school in 1951 to house its national training center. Currently, National 4-H Council owns and operates this exceptional conference center.

In May, 4-H members received national recognition at the 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program that honors youth for their extraordinary efforts in serving others through volunteerism.  From more than 5,000 Local Honorees nominated by their schools or organizations last fall, 102 State Honorees –two from each state and the District of Columbia—were selected.  4-H members accounted for 8 of the 102 State Honorees, 10 of the 234 Distinguished Finalists, and 3 of the top 10 National Honorees.

 The State Honorees each received $1,000 and an engraved silver medallion along with an all expenses paid trip to Washington, DC where they toured historic landmarks and visited their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. Former First Lady Laura W. Bush personally congratulated them.

“The young people receiving these awards genuinely care about making a difference in the lives of others and have accomplished so much – in their own communities and around the world,”  said Mrs. Bush during a gala dinner reception at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. “Students with this kind of commitment and leadership ability are essential to the future of our nation.”

National Honorees were named at this reception and received personal awards of $5,000, engraved gold medallions, trophies, and $5,000 grants from the Prudential Foundation for the charities of their choice.

State Honorees:

Sherwood Cammie York of Arkansas; Melissa Monette of Hawaii (National Honoree); Haley Sass of Minnesota; Pamela Fawns of Montana; Elizabeth Volzke of South Dakota; Shelby Romero of Texas (National Honoree); Anna Shafer and Morgan Mariner of Wyoming (National Honoree).

Distinguished Finalists:

Dusty Havens of Colorado; Kathryn Buford of Georgia; Taylor Jepsen and Spencer Taylor Peterson of Iowa; Brantley Gunn of Mississippi; Sydney Swanson of Nebraska; John-Henry Lambin of Nevada; Gregory Henzler of New York; Luke Hill of North Carolina; and Garrett Thompson of Oklahoma.

The awards program, now in its 14^th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial, Inc. in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Congratulations to all the 4-H youth honored as they continue to help better their communities and themselves.

The awards are conducted by Prudential Financial, Inc. in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Prinicipals (NASSP).

For more information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year’s honorees, visit http://spirit.prudential.com