4-H’ers pledge their hands to larger service

Sewing kindness in our community

Jessica Nachreiner, Comfrey Comets 4-H Club’s adult leader, works at a clinic in Brown County where she noticed the difficulty patients had getting their arms in and out of mammography gowns. “The gowns were not serving the clinic population well,” she says. The clinic didn’t have funding to purchase new gowns.

Jessica had an idea. Why not have the Comfrey Comets 4-H Club sew new mammography capes? The clinic supported this idea, and youth voted to apply for a $750 Helping Hands award to turn their idea into action.

“I enjoy sewing, but it isn’t taught in our school anymore, so I thought this would help other club members learn about sewing while also giving back to the community,” says Zoe Evers, Comfrey Comets 4-H Club vice president.

Youth paired with local quilters and used sewing machines from their school’s defunct home economics program to deliver 40 gowns for the Allina Health Springfield Clinic, helping 500 mammography patients each year.
 

Take us fishing for wildlife

Izack Girtz wants more people his age to learn about wildlife. He and his mother, Sandra Girtz, led the effort to arrange a fishing trip for more than 30 youth in July, supported by a $1,700 Helping Hands grant for equipment, life jackets, educational materials and bait.

According to Kara Waldvogel, 4-H youth development educator in Clearwater County, it’s been a success. “Everyone was able to go out on the water,” she says. “Almost everyone caught a fish too — northerns, bluegills, crappies, a rock bass and perch. Our amazing 4-H volunteers worked behind the scenes and on the pontoon to make it happen.”

As a part of conservation education, the young people learned how to improve the survival chances of a catch-and-release fish by taking the barb off the hook and other methods. Izack and the others then presented about their experience and shared research-based practices at a 4-H shooting sports and wildlife event in September.

Home safety for all

The New Hope 4-H Club in Polk County connects with New Hope for Immigrants (NHFI), a nonprofit organization established by immigrants to help new immigrants transition into their community. 

Noura Ahmed, New Hope 4-H Club adult leader, is vice president of NHFI. Ahmed says their Helping Hands idea was sparked when youth interviewed the NHFI volunteer English teacher. 

The New Hope 4-H Club created 10 home safety kits of useful household items, including a fire extinguisher, first aid kit and tools, along with a video tutorial. Class participants learn English through lessons on basic home safety and how to use these tools.

The 4-H’ers explored technology to make the video with a QR code and learned through trial and error. “We can learn new things and we can be a better person,” the youth wrote in their request for a $2,000 grant.

“It’s rewarding to see young people step up in leadership,” says Katie Becker, 4-H youth development educator.