4-H more than a club
As I sit to write this letter, a sense of bewilderment once again overcomes me, as it has many times since reading the headline "4-H on the chopping block" on the front page of the Cd'A Press. Once again, I am shocked at how out of touch with the community an elected official can be. I reassure myself and the countless parents and others who have asked that Mr. Hayes, with his proposed chopping block techniques, must simply not know what he is proposing to take away from the community he was elected to serve. He must just simply not have taken the time to become "educated" about the programs he doesn't seem to know about in his budget.
He appears to be under the impression that the 4-H program is simply a club that gives kids something to do in their spare time. The quote given in the article that "They (the kids in 4-H) can join the Kroc Center or the Boys and Girls Club" attests to his ignorance - not only about the extension office with its many facets, but about the 4-H program and even the children in his community. Mr. Hayes, you see, 4-H is so much more than just something for kids to do. It is a community, almost a subculture, if you will, of citizens who look upon each other as a family - a very large family - of volunteers dedicated to teaching children life skills that will make them a tremendous benefit to our society in the future. The 4-H program is about more than the incredible work ethic, compassion and responsibility learned through the animal projects; the skills for self-sufficiency in adulthood learned through the cooking, gardening, food preservation, small engines, money management and electricity projects; the outdoors skills and land stewardship learned in wildlife, forestry, archery, fishing, and shooting sports projects, and communication skills and self-confidence learned through public speaking, leadership and citizenship/government projects. It is about learning and teaching the life skills that will allow the children of our society to become outstanding citizens and the leaders that will one day run our country. The 4-H organization offers a way for thousands of volunteers across our nation to impart generations of wisdom to the youth of our society, all under the direct guidance and supervision of well trained University Extension personnel. There is no other organization that offers so much to our society as a whole - certainly not the Kroc Center or the Boys and Girls Clubs.
Last but not least, I would like to bring it to Mr. Hayes' attention that each club our county participates in at least one, and usually many, community service projects during the year. How does he propose to give back to the community thousands of hours of selfless service given by the 4-H members doing food drives to donate many tons of food to local food banks, raising funds for other nonprofit organizations such as the Humane Society, Cancer Society, St Jude's, and others, cleaning up trash, weeding, cleaning and painting old buildings in communities, giving blankets to homeless, even handing out water at Ironman. They do it because they have learned - through the 4-H program - that citizenship is about being actively involved in your community and working hard to make it a better place. How do you, Mr. Hayes, propose to teach all of these things to the people who will be passing the budgets and making the laws when you become old and can no longer be sure your voice is heard?
Tina K. Bothwell is a Clover Kidz 4-H community leader.