By Stacy DeBroff 

4-H is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with more than 6.8 million youth participants ages 5 to 19, and over 495,000 adult volunteers and 116,000 teen leaders. More than 45 million people are 4-H alumni.

• The program is administered cooperatively between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, land-grant universities, and county governments. When youth enroll in 4-H, they usually sign up for a club at the local county extension office.
• The program aims to give the nation’s youths knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable them to become productive and contributing members of society.
• Universally recognized by its four-leaf clover emblem, The 4-H Pledge captures the program’s philosophy, “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.”
• As background, youth participating in 4-H come from the following areas:

• 10% live on farms

• 32% live in towns under 10,000 and open country

• 23% live in towns and cities of 10,000 to 50,000

• 9% lived in suburbs of cities of over 50,000

• 26% lived in urban areas of cities of over 50,000

• Of the youth members, 52% are girls and 48% are boys, and 30% of the youth participating come from minority racial-ethnic groups.

• Founded in 1902, 4-H programs began as a way to give young people access to better agricultural education. The overall objective has remained the development of youths as individuals and as responsible and productive citizens.
• Youths can participate in more than 110 program areas, including: community service, communications, arts, consumer and family sciences, environmental education, earth sciences, healthy lifestyle education, leadership, plants and animals, and science and technology. Many 4-H activities remain career-driven, though activities range from building model rockets to organizing canned food drives for the needy, raising guinea pigs, or delivering speeches to local government officials. Summer camping programs, school enrichment programs, and fairs are also typically offered.
• 4-H publishes manuals for each project choice, which cost between $2 and $4 each.
• Activities involving animals, cooking, sewing, and natural resources are popular.
• When visiting a 4-H club meeting, look at what types of activities the club does and whether these interest your child. For example, if your child becomes really interested in gardening and learning about plants, then your child would probably not be happy in a livestock club where everyone is raising cattle and pigs. Most county extension offices have a long list of clubs available in the local community.
• There are no membership fees for 4-H. How much fundraising occurs really varies from club to club. If the club has decided to raise $40,000 to build a house for a needy family, then they are probably doing a lot of fundraisers. If the club only needs $300 for project books for the year, then they are probably only going to do a couple.
• 4-H has spread internationally through The International 4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) program, where 4-H alumni live with host families in other countries and do agricultural work, volunteer at an adult training center, or work with a local youth development program similar to 4-H.

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