The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

4-H is 117 years old and the 4-H Pledge is 92 years old. "I pledge...my hands to larger service...for my club, my community, my country and my world." Allan T. Smith, Ph.D., National 4-H Program Leader/USDA compiled an interesting essay on Beyond 4-H Community Service...to Community Service Learning! He talked about the importance of children learning the "feel good" experience for service. Serving impacts kids in a positive manner by learning and genuinely choosing to help the community.

The Sunshine Snippers 4-H club just finished two service projects. They clean up along the highway twice a year and they helped Jeff and Rose Tyler plant a garden. On the last day of school, they went over to the Tyler yard and three hours later they had finished the garden space. Jeff had it mostly rototilled, although the club finished it off. Jeff and Rose had bought some of the plants but the Sunshine Snippers bought some more and helped plant ever one. They planted a vegetable garden, a separate onion bed, and strawberry bed.

According to a USDA publication, "In a society based on the work ethic, work helps to define each of us. To the extent that we do something useful for the society, we gain a feeling of belonging and contributing that sustains us even when the work we do is difficult or dull...Youth have been progressively denied the opportunity to be engaged in work that is important to others and therefore denied the rewards that such work produces. "

"Young people need work experience, a higher sense of self-confidence, a chance to develop a service ethic, and opportunities to work with different kinds of people in common endeavors."

The Sunshine 4-H club serve as an example of service we can each do. We can sit down as families or organizations and make a Needs Assessment. What problems does our community have? What can we do to help a neighbor, an organization? Interesting enough just over Memorial Day Weekend I discovered a real need for community members to become active at the Big Sandy Historical Society and the American Legion Auxiliary. We can also ask where else can we become involved by volunteering our time. We can discuss this with the family or friends and make a decision to act. Summer is vacation time for most kids, and although the older students do try hard to find summer work, but for the most part grade school kids need help in finding things to do. Parents or the entire membership of an organization should be involved in analyzing weather it is viable, and could it be completed.

Sometimes the assessment and the analyzing brings us to a point where we know we have to collaborate with other friends, family, or organization in order to complete the project.

In order to be successful, especially with children you must plan and prepare because you want the service experience to be meaningful. It's always a good idea to follow up the service project with some kind of celebration taking the time to ask them how the experience was. Ask each child to analyze and listen to their observations.

We do have the hours and the sun is up till late for a wide variety of actions.