Community Service

State Teen Leadership Opportunity: Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council

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Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council (TLC) applications for the 2022-23 year are now available and can be found on our website at go.osu.edu/TLC! Please let any interested individual know so they may apply. Please note, because it is only a one year term, current TLC members who wish to continue their service must re-apply.

  • Applications and more information about the group can be found online at: go.osu.edu/TLC. Please note: applications (and other materials, including letters of recommendation and program fees) are due by Friday, August 12, 2022.
  • The term for selected individuals will be September 1, 2022-August 31, 2023.

If you have questions on this opportunity, please let Sarah (longo.79@osu.edu), Kayla (oberstadt.1@osu.edu),  or Frances (foos.61@osu.edu) know.

  • Age: Individuals must be 14-18 as of January 1 the year of application to apply for council member, committee member, committee chair, and officer.
  • Number of Meetings/Events: See the program structure outline on the application for specific numbers of meetings and events. Members are required to attend at least 75% of meetings and events.
    • Working Events: Members are required to work a number of statewide events at the Ohio State Fair, and elsewhere throughout the state (e.g. Farm Science Review, Legislative Luncheon, etc.).  Each level of membership differs in the number of events that are required.  See the program structure for more information.
  • Location of meetings: Meetings are typically held at the Ohio 4-H Center in Columbus, Ohio, but there are occasionally instances when they are held elsewhere due to events on Ohio State’s Campus.  In these instances, meetings may be held at locations close to campus area.  Refer to the application for the locations for the 2022-2023 year.  Members will be notified prior to a location change.
  • Member selection process and how to apply: Visit our website (go.osu.edu/TLC) and review the “Teen Leadership Council Selection Procedures & How to Apply” for all the details you may need to know or share 😊

Bottle Cap Project – Update!

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Thank you to those clubs who have been collecting caps for the Fairfield County Junior Leaders Bottle Cap Project – We are well on our way to collecting 1,000 lbs of plastic bottle caps. We are currently at 553 pounds of bottle caps diverted from the landfill to be recycled into benches and tables!

Check out how many pounds your club has turned in below:

Bottle Cap Weigh In
Club Name TOTAL:
Sewing Shefs 209
Champions 185
Thurston Future Farmers 72
AC Extreme 41
Awesome Animals 19
Carroll Country 6
Fairfield Cavy & Rabbit 5
Rough Riders 5
Lithopolis Livestock 4
Pygmies Plus 4
Fairfield Fowl Friends 2
Just Kiddin’ 1

We will continue to collect bottle caps until Sunday, July 24, 2022!

We will have two more weigh in days (May 22 & July 24) at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds

If you are unable to attend the weigh in, please schedule a time to drop off your bottle caps at the Fairfield County Extension Office by calling 740-653-5419!

Bottle Cap Weigh In: May 7th and/or May 22nd

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4-H Clubs do you have bottle caps to weigh in?

Please bring all clean plastic bottle caps in a trash bag and/or box to the May Weigh-Ins at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds!

Weigh Ins will take place in the #4 Beef Barn at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds on:

  • Saturday, May 7th, 9:00 – 11:00am
  • Sunday, May 22nd, 11:00am – 1:00pm

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:

Volunteer at the Ohio State Fair!

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I wanted to reach out about a new, exciting exhibit that we will have at the 2022 Ohio State Fair. Little Farmers will be an educational, hands-on experience geared towards 3 – 10 year olds to teach them about agriculture.  

 

In order to make this exhibit successful, we will need to recruit a large number of volunteers to participate. Individuals or groups may volunteer for an entire day or just one shift. Make this a 4-H club community service project!

 

Click here for additional information: Little Farmers Flier  Anyone that is interested in volunteering can submit the online form and then we will be in touch in early June to start scheduling.  

 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions by contacting Andrea Hershey (hersheya1985@gmail.com). We appreciate you helping to spread the word about Little Farmers at the 2022 Ohio State Fair! 

Stock the Trailer Canned Food Drive – RESULTS!

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Fairfield County Fair Junior Leaders completed the weight of their Food Donations on 10/18/21 on the official Fairfield County Fair scales.   We collected 4,925 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. Donated items were donated to 8 different pantries across Fairfield County including: Foundation Dinners, Lancaster Vineyard Church Food Pantry, St. Vincent DePaul, Lutheran Social Services, Maywood Community Outreach, Lancaster Fairfield Community Action, Mills Memorial United Methodist Church Food Pantry and the Baltimore-Thurston Food Pantry.

Congratulations to Our Trop 5 Winning Groups: 

  1. Clearcreek Showmen 4-H Club
  2. Champions 4-H Club
  3. Junior Horse Exhibitors (to be used at their Spring Clinic)
  4. Amanda Work & Win 4-H Club
  5. Lithopolis Livestock 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:

Final Numbers:            Lbs. of Food Donated 

Clearcreek Showmen             497

Champions                               333

Jr Horse Exhibitors                155

Amanda Work & Win             125

Lithopolis Livestock               105

Sewing Shefs                            92

Blazin’ Buckeyes                      52

Fairfield Union FFA               52

AC Extreme                              49

Awesome Animals                   23

US Kids                                      19

Amanda Clearcreek FFA        11

Just Kiddin                                9

Join Battle of the Groups during the Stock the Trailer Campaign

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 Fight the Hunger, Stock the Trailer Campaign comes to the Fairfield County Fair

All Fairgoers are invited to participate in our Fight the Hunger, Stock the Trailer campaign by bringing non-perishable food items to the Fairfield County Fair. There will be collection boxes at all fair entrance gates for individuals to leave donations.  All food collected during fair week will go to local food pantries to support local families and individuals who may be in need. The Fairfield County Junior Fair has set a goal of 10,000 pounds of non-perishable food items to be collected that can help our community. This campaign is in partnership with the Farm Credit Mid-America.  Our Junior Fair is competing against other fairs in the region; the Junior Fair that collects the most food, wins a prize.

The Fairfield County Junior Leaders are challenging All 4-H Clubs, FFA Chapters & Scout Troops to participate and bring non-perishable food items to the fair. The Top 5 groups who donate the most food by weight will receive cash prizes for their end of year celebrations. Items for group donations can be brought directly to the livestock trailer housed in the north wing of the round cattle barn, or the grain cart in the Ed Sands Building during the fair. There will be daily weigh ins for groups to get credit. All groups are welcome to start collecting now, and turn in items once the fair opens!!

 

 

Bottle Cap Project – Final Results

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Congratulations to the top 3 clubs in the Battle of the 4-H Club Contest:

1st Place: Champions

2nd Place: Thurston Future Farmers

3rd Place: Green Extreme

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 1,600 lbs of plastic bottle caps!! 10 new benches will be purchased and placed on the Fairfield County Fairgrounds.

 

We still have 7 benches  in need of sponsors, and more information can be found here.  If you have questions, please contact Aubry (Fowler.443@osu.edu).

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

Club Name TOTAL:
Champions 490
Thurston Future Farmers 183
Green Extreme 163
Awesome Animals 144
Sewing Shefs 141
Lithopolis Livestock 102
Kountry Kidz 85
Clearcreek Showmen 43
Shooting Stars 38.5
Wild About Animals 31
AC Extreme 30
Cloverleaf Livestock 22
KKEZ 17.5
Pygmies Plus 15
Amanda Work & Win 13
Final Drive 8
Rough Riders 7
Fairfield Cavy & Rabbits 7
Cedar Hill Gang 6
Pickerington Clovers 4.5
Carroll Country 4-Hers 3
Fairfield Fowl Friends 3

Final Bottle Cap Weigh In: Sat., July 10th

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4-H Clubs do you have bottle caps to weigh in?

If you still have bottle caps to drop off, please join the Junior Leaders on Saturday, July 10th from 12-2pm in the #4 Beef Barn. This will be the LAST collection day for the 4-H Club Competition!

Please bring all clean plastic bottle caps in a trash bag and/or box to the FINAL Weigh-Ins at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds!

If you have questions, please contact Aubry (Fowler.443@osu.edu). If this date doesn’t work for you, a time can be arranged to drop them off at the Extension Office.

Community Service Opportunity: Pet Heaven Cemetery in Reynoldsburg/Etna

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Read on if your 4-H Club is looking for a community service opportunity!

From Joe Downs, Cemetery Director at Pet Heaven Cemetery:

A brief explanation of who we are; Pet Heaven was purchased by The Basement Doctor in 2018, and is now one of their many sister companies. In the years prior to the purchase of the cemetery, it has been pretty neglected and overgrown. Since purchasing the cemetery in 2018, the employees at The Basement Doctor have been volunteering their time to mow, meet with families, dig graves, and even set monuments. Finally this year, they realized the cemetery has too much business to keep running on volunteer capacity, so they hired me. I am a former dog groomer and humane agent, as well as a current funeral director and crematory operator. I am now THE only person responsible for everything related to the cemetery.

Over the past few months I have contracted with casket suppliers, monument artists, and a lawncare team.

My final big task before re-opening the cemetery and accepting new burials; is landscaping!

Pet Heaven dates back to the 1950’s, and is home to hundreds of companions final resting places. Being that we have headstones from the 50’s and up, many families don’t make it out to care for the graves anymore, and I really want the grounds to be clean and welcoming before reopening.

Some of the biggest tasks I have include:

  • Washing off headstones with soap and water
  • Pulling weeds around headstones – we do not use a weed-eater around the headstones because the string contains metal reinforcement, and can damage the stone ☹
  • Leveling stones – Many of the headstones have settled into the ground over the years and shifted. Since our headstones are sized for pets, they are fairly small and lightweight. Most of the stones just need to be re-centered on their slabs, so the rows are in nice straight lines.
  • Gardening and landscaping – I have been reaching out to local nurseries and garden centers for donations of mulch and stone. Right now, the cemetery is just lawn and trees. I want to have a nice eye-catching entrance with bright flowers and dark mulch. We also have a large empty area in the center of the cemetery where I would like to add a “Pick-your-own flower garden” – growing a variety of flowers and greenery, offering a unique experience for visitors to pick their own arrangement of flowers to place on their loved ones grave.

I am reaching out to see if your 4H community would be interested in helping us complete any of these tasks. We are eager to open our doors again and start accepting burials for at-need families!

Everything necessary will be provided for our volunteers; gloves, sunscreen, glasses, brushes and cleaners etc…

I will also be installing a community board with local veterinary office info, coupons for pet supplies etc, and would be more than happy to add a big banner thanking the Ohio 4-H volunteers for making our cemetery beautiful!

***Pet Heaven as well as all of our sister companies have been completely covid free during the entire pandemic. While our employees are getting vaccinated, we are still enforcing a strict mask policy in our offices, vehicles, and common areas. Outdoor activities are mask optional as long as a 6-foot distance is still enforced, or members are from the same household.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this email, and I look forward to hearing back from you! 😊

JOE DOWNS 

CEMETERY DIRECTOR

PET HEAVEN CEMETERY

ADDRESS: 13701 NATIONAL RD. SW, ETNA OH, 43068

SITES: www.PetHeavenOhio.com / Facebook/PetHeavenCemetery

PHONE: 740.927.3582

~ JDowns@PetHeavenOhio.com ~

Bottle Cap Project – Update!

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Thank you to those clubs who have been collecting caps for the Fairfield County Junior Leaders Bottle Cap Project! We are well on our way to collecting 1,000 lbs of plastic bottle caps!

Check out how many pounds your club has turned in below:

Bottle Cap Weigh In Update
Club Name TOTAL:
Champions 274
Green Extreme 161
Awesome Animals 131
Thurston Future Farmers 80
Sewing Shefs 79
Lithopolis Livestock 75
Kountry Kidz 46
Clearcreek Showmen 41
Shooting Stars 34
Extension Office 31
Wild About Animals 29
Pygmies Plus 13
Cloverleaf Livestock 8
Amanda Work & Win 7
KKEZ 5.5
Final Drive 2
Rough Riders 2
Pickerington Clovers 0.5

We will continue to collect bottle caps until Saturday July 10, 2021!

We will have one final weigh in that day at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds – More details coming soon.

If you are unable to attend the weigh in, please schedule a time to drop off your bottle caps at the Fairfield County Extension Office by calling 740-653-5419!