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Georgia 4-H Touches
Every Corner Of State
Imagine the entire city of
Savannah filled with kids
aged 9 to 19.
Georgia’s 4-H Clubs could
do it, and still have more
than enough members left
over to fill the city of Deca
tur.
The 4-H program reaches
more than 160,000 young
sters in the state through
nearly 4,600 organized clubs,
making Georgia one of the
largest 4-H states in the
country. Forsyth County it
self boasts 900 4-H’ers.
Statewide, nearly a third
of Georgia’s 4-H members
come from urban and subur
ban homes. Another 56 per
Volunteers Are
Valuable To 4-H
Let’s say you hire 5,300
workers for one week. They
work 40 hours and you paid
them $3.65 per hour. How
much would that cost you?
Almost three-quarters of a
million dollars.
4-H volunteer leaders con
tributed more than three
fourths of a million dollars in
their time last year.
A total of 5,300 volunteer
leaders helped 4-H’ers with
their projects, drove buses,
listened to demonstrations
and worked with county ex
tension agents.
It’s a big job. 4-H’ers bene
fit from the leader’s experi
ence. The volunteer leader
Urban Students Help
4-H Clubs To Grow
Clovers pop up all over the
city sidewalks nowadays. At
least, Georgia 4-H clovers
do.
The latest statistics from
the traditionally agricultural
program show nearly a third
of the 4-H members in the
state live in metropolitan
and suburban areas. That’s
almost 50,000 youngsters.
“Urban 4-H programs help
4-H grow. They add a new
spark to a very old idea,”
says state 4-H program
leader Tom Rodgers. “Our
city students prove that the
4-H pledge of applying head,
heart, hands and health to
civic work isn’t restricted to
FOUR-H’S
Ever wonder what the H’s
stand for in 4-H? They come
from the 4-H pledge: “I
pledge my HEAD to clearer
thinking, my HEART to
greater loyalty, my HANDS
to larger service, and my
HEALTH to better living for
my Club, my Community,
my Country and my World.”
cent live in rural, non-farm
areas.
While only 14 percent have
farm background, agricultu
ral projects still claim a lot
of interest among Georgia 4-
H’ers. Students in the pro
gram completed nearly 100,-
000 projects last year in
areas like plants and ani
mals, ecology and natural
resources. Energy and neer
ing projects drew more than
54,000 4-H students.
Other popular projects in
Georgia include economics
and careers, government
and community devel
opment, consumer educa-
benefits from making a con
tribution to a young person’s
life. Everyone benefits from
the hundreds of 4-H volun
teer leaders throughout
Georgia.
National 4-H week is spe
cial to volunteer leaders too.
They support the state’s 4-H
program with their time and
helpful advice.
It’s National 4-H week
where young people stand
proud and volunteer leaders
smile with a sense of accom
plishment. Volunteer lead
ers are special to 4-H’ers.
It’s National 4-H week, THIS
WEEK.
folks down on the farm. It
can be done in any project
and any community.”
Although most urban 4-
H’ers don’t enroll in the tra
ditional farm projects like
steer shows and plant sci
ence that most people asso
ciate with 4-H, they still find
more than enough work to
keep themselves busy.
Georgia 4-H offers educa
tional project work in en
ergy, engineering,
economics and dozens of
other areas for city young
sters.
“The only limit to 4-H
work in our county is your
imagination,” says Forsyth
County Extension agent
Carol White, who leads the 4-
H clubs here.
“There are so many excit
ing projects like electronics,
personal development and
veterinary science. You just
can’t list them all,” Ms.
White says. “And Forsyth
County 4-H’ers get an added
tion, personal development
and communications. All to
gether, Georgia 4-H’ers en
rolled in some 308,000
projects and activities va
lued at sl4 million.
But 4-H is more than pro
ject work. Last year, almost
27,000 youngsters went
camping at Georgia’s four
permanent 4-H camps: Rock
Eagle (near Eatonton),
Camp Fulton (Atlanta),
Camp Wahsega (near Dahlo
nega and Camp Chatham
(Savannah). Another 4-H
camp opens this year on Je
kyll Island.
The State £H program
also awarded $73,000 in col
lege scholarships to its mem
bers last year, including
SIO,OOO in national schol
arships won by Georgia stu
dents competing at National
4-H Congress in Chicago.
This year, the Georgia As
sociation of County Agricul
tural Agents adds another
SSOO scholarship to the list.
As the nation celebrates
National 4-H week Oct. 3-9,
Georgia will be especially
remembered for its out
standing volunteer support.
More than 5,300 adult volun
teers and another 2,300 ju
nior and teen leaders pitched
in across the state to make
Georgia 4-H Clubs among
the most successful in the
country.
For more information on 4-
H, call the Forsyth County
Extension office at 887-2418
or visit them at 101 Maple
Street.
benefit beyond project work.
They get to meet and work
with young people from all
over the state, not just from
their neighborhood “
Georgia’s largest county 4-
H clubs are in urban areas,
Ms. White says. Clayton
County has the largest pro
gram in the state with 4,671
members.
Close behind are Cobb and
DeKalb, each with about 4,-
500 members. Bibb and
Gwinnett Counties each have
more than 3,000.
GREEN AND WHITE
CLOVERS
The green and white clo
ver didn’t become the 4-H
emblem by accident. Each
“H” on the four-leaf clover
represents the “Head,
Heart, Hands and Health” of
the 4-H pledge. The white in
the 4-H flag symbolizes pu
rity. The green, natures
most common color, rep
resents life, springtime and
youth.
THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1982-
Congratulations 4-H’ers
E.T. Is here, come by and register
for E.T. Halloween Costume to be
given away to some lucky person
on Oct. 29.
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during National
4-H Club Week
Oct. 3-9.
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I
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