Community Service

Community Service Challenge for 4-H Clubs

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Calling all 4-H Clubs! The Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council has a community service challenge for you in honor of Earth Day this month! We challenge you to complete one or more of these community service projects related to environmental stewardship listed on the attached flyer. If your club completes one of these activities, follow the link/ QR code listed to add your club’s name (go.osu.edu/4HClubEarthDay). You might be featured on our social media, AND you are automatically entered into a drawing to win a prize from the 4-H mall for your club! Entries are due by June 1st, 2023. Happy Earth Day, from The Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council!

 

Master 4-H PetPALS Volunteer Leader Training

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This opportunity is available to adults and teens. Read on for more information!

Master 4-H PetPALS Volunteer Leader Training will be held on Sunday, April 23, from 1:00pm – 7:00pm at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. Registrations are due by Monday April 17. The registration fee is $45.00 for adults and $35.00 for youth (13+). Registration is online only and can be found at https://go.osu.edu/4-hpetpals2023.

If interested in attending, please register by the deadline and select “pay by check” and checkout. Forward your email to Leslie Cooksey at cooksey.25@osu.edu. We will be using OSU 4-H Endowment Interest Funds to cover the cost of registrations for Fairfield County volunteers/teens attending.

Please note that this training is later in the 4-H year than we would like. It is the first training offered since 2020 and it took a little more to organize than originally thought. The goal was a quality training so please bear with us until we get back on a more regular schedule. This training will be offered every February in the future.

What is 4-H PetPALS?

4-H PetPALS is an intergeneration leader-directed project connecting youth and their pets with senior adults and other people in various types of health care facilities, hospices, as well as youth in school programs, libraries, etc. 4-H members learn to select, socialize and train appropriate pets to participate as youth pet teams in animal-assisted activities.

To be a 4-H member enrolled in 4-H PetPALS, there must be a trained adult Master 4-H PetPALS Volunteer giving leadership to this project. This can be in a separate 4-H PetPALS club or within an existing 4-H Club.

The training on April 23 will give volunteers the information needed to become 4-H PetPALS advisors. Older youth (13+) are also welcome to attend the training. They will engage in activities to help the adult advisors teach their members.

Information about 4-H PetPALS can be found at https://ohio4h.org/animalsciences/ohio-4-h-petpals.

Interested volunteers contact Renee Clark clark.471@osu.edu or Sara Deakin deakin.5@osu.edu if they have questions.

Stock the Trailer Canned Food Drive – RESULTS!

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Fairfield County Fair Junior Leaders completed the weight of their Food Donations on 10/17/2022 on the official Fairfield County Fair scales.   We collected 6,726 lbs of canned food and bottled water.  We had tremendous support from the community for this project including the Fairfield County Commissioners, the Fairfield County Antique Tractor Club, and the Fairfield County Cattlemen’s Association, just to name a few. Plus, numerous 4-H Clubs and FFA Chapters donated in the Fairfield County Fair Challenge. The Fairfield County Senior Fairboard voted to give back the $500 participation fee in $100 increments to those clubs donating the most food, hoping to assist with end of the year recognitions. Items were donated to 7 different pantries across Fairfield County including: Foundation Dinners, Lancaster Vineyard Church Food Pantry, St. Vincent DePaul, Saint Mark Emerald Food Pantry, Maywood Community Outreach, Lancaster Fairfield Community Action, and the Salvation Army .

Congratulations to Our Trop 5 Winning Groups: 

  1. Champions 4-H Club
  2. Rough Riders 4-H Club
  3. Clearcreek Showman 4-H Club
  4. Lithopolis Livestock 4-H Club
  5. AC Extreme 4-Hers 4-H Club

Aubry will be in touch with each winning club to make sure you receive your prize of $100 each for your end of the year celebrations.

Thank you to all these groups and fairgoers who donated to the canned food drive.
The final results for each group can be found below:

Club Name TOTAL:
AC Extreme 21
Awesome Animals 13
Champions 340
Clearcreek Showman 143
Lithopolis Livestock 107
Rough Riders 227
Wild About Animals 14

Stock the Trailer ..Help us Fill the Pantry!! Canned Food Drive!!

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The Fairfield County Junior Leaders are asking for your help with a Fairfield County Fair canned food drive!! Farm Credit Mid-America is challenging County Fairs all across the State to help fill local food pantries with their STOCK THE TRAILER, FILL THE PANTRY food drive.  By participating in this event you will allow youth to compete for monetary prizes awarded by Farm Credit for those Fairs bringing in the most pounds of canned food donated.   The Junior Leaders will be collecting your donations daily at the #50 Show Arena, drop off containers at the Broad and High Street entrance gates to the Fairgrounds.

Don’t want to shop… send a monetary donations to the attention of the Fairfield County Junior Leaders 4-H Club c/o OSU Extension 831 College Avenue, Suite D, Lancaster, OH 43130.  We will send our Junior Leaders out to shop for you.  The contest ends on the last day of the Fairfield County Fair, October 15. Your support helps our YOUTH  give back!!

Bottle Cap Project – FINAL RESULTS

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Congratulations to the top 3 clubs in the Bottle Cap Project Club Contest:

1st Place: Champions

2nd Place: Thurston Future Farmers

3rd Place: Sewing Shefs

Champions 4-H Club will receive a bench sponsored by the Junior Leaders and a personalized plaque for their bench. Thank you to those clubs who have been collecting caps for the Fairfield County Junior Leaders Bottle Cap Project! We were able to collect 2,391 lbs of plastic bottle caps!! 10 new benches will be purchased and placed on the Fairfield County Fairgrounds.

Curious how how much your club collected? Check out how many pounds your club turned in below:

Bottle Cap Weigh In Final Results
Club Name TOTAL:
General Donation 653
Champions 502
Thurston Future Farmers 396
Sewing Shefs 287
Kountry Kidz 117
Lithopolis Livestock 110
Amanda Work & Win 62
AC Extreme 60
Baltimore Blue Ribbons 52
Carroll Country 36
Awesome Animals 23
Green Extreme 23
KKEZ 22
Rough Riders 11
Wild About Animals 11
Pygmies Plus 7
Bloomin’ Clovers 6
Fairfield Cavy & Rabbit 5
Shooting Stars 5
Fairfield Fowl Friends 2
Just Kiddin’ 1

Poultry Workday is Saturday, August 13th – all are welcome!

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Don’t forget the Junior Fair Poultry workday is this Saturday, August 13th  at the fairgrounds. We’ll start at 9AM in the area of the red show arena/50 barn and our breeding barn. Thanks to the hard work of asst. superintendents Wes Brendsel and Scott Anderson, we already have a good start on building the new stanchions. All that remains is to install legs and paint. We also need to paint a few of the old stanchions that need it, as well as the add’t sheeting we purchased for under and over the cages (it is OSB so will need paint). If we have enough help, we also want to power wash some of the other stanchions and sheeting that is extremely dirty. I suggest everyone wear older clothes. The committee will be providing lunch for everyone, but please remember to let me know if you are coming, so we can have an accurate count.
Thanks,
John Hablitzel

FINAL Bottle Cap Weigh-In: Sunday, July 24th

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The final weigh-in for bottlecaps this year is Sunday, July 24th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the #4 Beef Barn at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds. Please bring all clean plastic bottle caps in a trash bag and/or box! If you have questions, please contact Aubry (Fowler.443@osu.edu)

Reminder on the rules:

  • Work within your club to collect clean plastic bottle caps and lids.
  • Collect only caps that are approved – they must be ALL plastic and clean (no food residue please)
  • Store them during our “off” time in bags – inside a box – they will get heavy
  • Bring them to the Extension Office for the Club Weigh-In 
  • Fundraise to purchase a bench for your club Contact Aubry (Fowler.443@osu.edu) for more details (optional)
  • The club who collects the most caps by weight will receive a bench sponsored by the Junior Leaders and a personalized plaque for their bench.

Caps you should be collecting vs unaccepted caps:

  •  

Statewide 4-H Food Drive at The Ohio State Fair

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Help the Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council reach their community service goals by contributing to the canned food drive at Ohio State Fair! All 4-H families are welcome to contribute by bringing in non-perishable foods to the Lausche Building (where 4-H projects are judged) each day of the State Fair. Ongoing counts of the top-contributing counties will be tallied throughout the Ohio State Fair from July 27-August 7! Thank you for supporting our communities!

Volunteer at the Ohio State Fair – Little Farmers Exhibit

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The Ohio State Fair is looking for volunteers to help at a new hands-on educational program called Little Farmers. Volunteers must be at least 14 years of age and will get free Ohio State Fair admission for themselves and one guest to enjoy the fair before or after their shift.

What is Little Farmers? Little Farmers is a hands-on educational exhibit that is targeted to kids ages 3 to 10, allowing them to explore different aspects of Ohio agriculture. There are eight different stations set up in the outdoor area on the lawn northeast of the Voinovich Livestock & Trade Center. With simulated animals, real grains, planting, handling faux fruits and vegetables, and more, kids have the opportunity to learn about Ohio’s largest industry.

Who can volunteer? Individuals or groups (such as 4-H clubs, FFA chapters, sponsors, organizations, and clubs) may volunteer. Volunteers must be at least 14 years old. Where will I volunteer? You can request to volunteer at the start barn, garden, grain bin, chicken coop, sheep barn, dairy barn, or farmer’s market.

When? Shifts are available every day of the Fair, July 27 – August 7, 2022:

  • Morning – 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  • Afternoon – 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Evening – 4:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

How do I sign up? Complete the interest form below, and a representative of the Ohio State Fair will contact you with more information.

https://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=s.signup&urlid=10c0e4eada629a6f8c43-2022&view=standard

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact Sydney Sharp at s.sharp@expo.ohio.gov.