|
(Editor's Note: This is a fill-in-the-blank news release
for county 4-H agents to use with local media)
LOCAL 4-H VOLUNTEERS LEARN VALUABLE LESSONS AT LEADER FORUM
By:
INSERT YOUR NAME
INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER
Source:
Marilyn Norman
(352)846-0996
mnnorman@mail.ifas.ufl.edu
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2002
YOUR
TOWN—Caring about young people is important to local 4-H volunteers, who
attended the Southern Region 4-H Leader Forum last weekend.
_________
attended the regional training, which was held at the Rock Eagle
4-H Center in Eatonton, Georgia. INSERT QUOTE FROM VOLUNTEER OR AGENT HERE
ABOUT THE VALUE OF THE LEADER FORUM/SOMETHING LEARNED THAT WILL HELP
IMPROVE 4-H CLUBS IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
Training programs like
the annual forum are important for volunteers, said Marilyn Norman, state
4-H leader at the University of Florida’s IFAS. “The forum gives them
the opportunity to exchange ideas, get re-motivated about what they are
doing with young people and communicate with each other,” said Norman.
Norman
said that Florida’s 4-H program was well-represented at the event with
168 attendees hailing from the Sunshine State. More than five hundred
volunteers also attended from Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and
Tennessee.
Workshops
covered topics like: teambuilding, computers and youth, building a 4-H
pizza garden, raising puppies as guide dogs for the blind, clowning,
Project Learning Tree, recreational activities, soil science judging teams
and much more.
Volunteers are critical
to the successful delivery of 4-H programs, said Norman. Last year there
were more than 14,700 volunteers active with 4-H programs in Florida. They
organized 4-H clubs, helped at fairs, organized outreach programs to
involve young people, raised funds and taught workshops.
“4-H volunteers help
young people learn in a hands-on way and mentor young people through
one-on-one relationships,” said Norman. “4-H volunteers make a
difference in the lives of thousands of youth every day. Youth development
research shows us that young people need caring adult role models while
they are developing.”
There
are 640,000 4-H volunteers in the United States. 4-H is the youth
development program of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, which is
part of the University of Florida’s IFAS that is headquartered in
Gainesville.
4-H worked with more
than 287,000 youth ages 5-18 last year in Florida and has programs active
in all 67 counties and on Seminole Tribes reservations in south Florida.
Founded
in 1902 as an outreach to rural youth, the 4-H youth movement has 60
million alumni and involves 28% of youth in America at some point in their
K-12 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
There
are more than 6.7 million 4-H members throughout the nation who live in
cities, towns and the countryside. 4-H continues to thrive today, adapting
itself to the interests of young people and focusing on hands-on learning
and youth adult partnership.
“The
innovative and very successful 4-H movement has been cultivated by
literally millions of volunteers and young people over the last century,
” said Don Floyd, president and CEO of National 4-H Council while
attending the 4-H centennial celebration in St. Augustine in September.
To
volunteer with 4-H, call INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER. To find out more about
Florida 4-H, visit www.florida4h.org.
--30-- |