This year’s Clermont County 4-H True Leaders in Service Award was awarded to Maple Rey Milk & More. The True Leaders in Service Award is a award recognizing 4-H clubs for the implementation of a community service project that positively impacts their community over the past year. Winners receive a monetary award sponsored by the Clermont County 4-H Committee to help support their next community service project.
Each year at one of our meetings, club members and parents bring forth suggestions for community service ideas. After some discussion the club members vote on which projects to select. The club members often choose to select community service opportunities that allow as many of our club members to participate as possible and that help serve our local community of Clermont County. This year the club members elected to do two community service projects.
The first project selected was collecting and packaging food for CNE Cares and Feed our Flock. Both of these organizations collect and distribute food to youth who may not have food to eat over the weekends when they do not have access to the food served at schools. All the food distributed to the youth is in single serving packages and if it needs to be cooked it can be microwaved in the package. This allows for children of all ages to feed themselves if parents or guardians are not around. CNE Cares serves children in the Clermont Northeastern School District and Feed Our Flock supplies food to children in the Milford School district. The club members spent a month purchasing or collecting donated food then gathered together at the Owensville Library to package the food. Over 30 youth members and parents came out to serve and help package 100 bags of food for the two charities. Each bag of food contained a can of ravioli, a mac-n-cheese cup, a package of ramen noodles, a fruit cup or apple sauce, a granola bar, a pack of fruit snacks, a package of peanut butter crackers, an individual cereal box, pop tarts, cookies and chips or pretzels. The total cost of food donated was over $650 and the food was distributed evenly between the two organizations.
The second project was to volunteer at Give Like A Mother, also known as GLAM. 22 members, parents and advisors volunteered 4 hours over two days with the organization. On the first day we were given a tour of the charity’s new facility located in Eastgate Mall and given an overview of what they do. The organization supplies slightly used or new clothing and shoes to children all over the county. The organization takes in donations from individuals as well as several businesses. All donations have to be sorted several times to assure that all clothing is free of stains, tears or other blemishes and that it is an article of clothing that is in-style and will promote positive self-esteem in the youth who will receive it.
Clothing is then sorted by gender and size before being placed into donation bags for those who request assistance. Our volunteers spent the first day sorting through over 250 pairs of shoes. It was a huge undertaking that would have taken the regular volunteers a few days, but with all the extra hands it was completed in a few hours. On our next day, volunteers sorted through several large bags and bins of newly donated clothing. While volunteering we met many of the regular volunteers, including a 4H Alumni and retired 4-H educator from Oregon who loved seeing 4-Her’s still serving their community.
Please congratulate the members of Maple Rey Milk & More for their service to our community!