4-H Delivers

CA 4-H Service-Learning Grants Allow 4-Hers to Build Healthier Communities

The Issue

On the morning of a school holiday in mid-November, 12-year-old Sean got a ride across town and presented his ideas for installing benches in a wetland to officials of the Siskiyou Land Trust. Sean is a junior leader for the Strawberry Valley 4-H club woodworking group, and he knows about making and installing public benches. Last year, his group won a 4-H service-learning grant to provide benches at Siskiyou Lake. This year, a new grant of $1,100 will allow the group to make benches for the Sisson Meadow Wetlands, which the land trust has recently restored in downtown Mt. Shasta.

“I think it’s going to be fun for the group,” Sean says. “The benches will give people a place to sit and make the area look nicer, and we get to learn more woodworking skills.”  With support from a 4-H service-learning grant, the Strawberry Valley 4-H woodworking group built and installed benches at Siskiyou Lake.

Just like Sean and Strawberry Valley 4-H, many 4-Hers have innovative ideas and creative solutions.  However, these projects take time and cost money.  California 4-H is fortunate in its ability to provide service-learning grants, which help fund such 4-H efforts.

What has 4-H Done?

This is the fifth year California 4-H service-learning grants have been awarded; distributions have ranged from $5,500 to $14,900 per year and are a gift from the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, secured through the California 4-H Foundation. Proposed projects must contain aspects of community service and education; address significant environmental, economic and/or social issues affecting California’s youth, families and communities; and involve collaboration with other community-based organizations.

The service-learning grants are part of the California 4-H Youth Development Program, which is sponsored by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  “The goal,” says Pat English, California 4-H program representative, “is to expand members’ skills in citizenship, leadership and life.” English continues, “The service-learning projects provide teachable moments, opportunities for reflection and the means to gain experience in community building.”

As English alluded to, the concept of service-learning is composed of two core components: service of the community and opportunities for education.  For example, last year, the community of Lake Siskiyou received beautiful, sturdily built benches, and Sean and his group learned many things, including how a cedar snag is felled and turned into lumber at the town mill. For their new project, Sean is looking forward to the trickiest aspect: “I’m not quite sure how we’re going to do the foundation, because it’s kind of swampy out there,” he says.

The Payoff

Along with the Strawberry Valley 4-H club woodworking group, grants for four other service-learning projects were awarded in 2007. Another Siskiyou County 4-H group received $1,000 to organize a “senior prom” for elderly residents. In Sacramento County, a 4-H club has $2,000 to provide environmental education and outdoor living experiences to 1,000 elementary students from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. In San Mateo County, members of the Belmont 4–H Clothing Project were awarded $233 to create dyed-silk scarves for a local hospital. Also, $500 of seed money was awarded to an ambitious youth service-learning idea, the 4-H Million Trees project, which aims to engage 4-H youth in planting one million trees.

Engaging in public projects that serve the community in tangible, recognizable, and important ways motivates young people and their adult leaders. California 4-H service-learning grants allow groups like the Strawberry Valley 4-H club to pursue their goals of community service and experiential learning.

Author: Hazel Whit