We know that 4-H club members make a difference in their communities!

In a statistical analysis of the information provided by clubs within their annual charters done in 2015, it was found that the average 4-H club spent 12% of its annual income on community service, and completed 5 projects annually. Projects fell under the following categories (the first two categories were the most popular)

• Direct service (assisted living facilities & community beautification projects were the most common)
• Donations (local food pantries were the most common benefactor)
• Events (e.g. county fair, Relay for Life).

Tell us the story of how you made a difference in your community! The data from across the state will be complied and shared.

Create a Community Service Report

According to the Campus Outreach Opportunity League, in order for community service to work
effectively for youth, five important elements need to be in place.

Those elements are:
1. Meeting community needs. The community service performed by youth must be seen as relevant
and timely for them. They will need to see or learn about the real needs in their community and what
they can do to help with those needs. To help with this element, youth working with adults may want
to survey community members, leaders, agencies or organizations to learn about the community
needs. This will also help them build on existing community assets.

2. Careful planning and preparation. Youth should be a part of the planning of the project and each
person should be prepared for their part in the project. The youth need to help prioritize activities,
involve and inform parents and other adults, and keep safety and risk management procedures in
mind.

3. Meaningful action. The activity needs to be necessary and valuable to the community.
Participants need to feel like they made a difference in a meaningful way and the community needs
to value their contribution. Most importantly, adults need to make sure all members are involved.

4. Time for reflection. Structured time needs to be provided at a 4-H meeting for the members to
reflect on their community service project. Reflection gives the youth the opportunity to think about
what they did, as well as what it means to them, to others, and to their community.

5. Evaluation of the project. Members should be involved in discussing the impact of their service
and what they learned from completing the project, as evaluation gives the group direction for
improvement, growth, and change. It also allows them to think about what else they might do
because of this experience. Members need the opportunity to share what they learned individually
and discuss what impact they felt they had on the community.

This document outlines the Nine Steps Toward Performing a Successful Community Service Project.

This Risk Management Plan Worksheet  will help you minimize risk as you plan your community service project or event.

We have the option here of using all the "True Leaders in Service" toolkit 
from National 4-H (which they took from IL) 
https://4-h.org/get-involved/true-leaders-in-service/#!toolkit
But then we may have to give them our data...& we would have to have the event in 
April