4-H is a community of young people across America and the world who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills.
4-H is focused on positive youth development through hands-on learning and educational programs to build skills which will help them succeed in life.
We provide programs through several different methods: in-school clubs which meet monthly, in-school enrichment which are short-term programs focused on a certain topic, clubs which meet regularly and are usually are focused on a specific interest like archery club (on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month 6-7:15pm at Brewton Middle School gym) or cooking club, animal projects (Chick Chain, Calf Project, and Swine Project), and through camping programs like 4-H Summer Camp at the Alabama 4-H Center in Columbiana, AL or Summer Day Camps here locally. Many of these programs can be managed by our staff, but we can greatly increase our capacity to provide instruction and programs with the use of volunteers.
4-H is focused on youth development, but we are also in the business of volunteer development. There are several ways for someone to serve as a 4-H volunteer in a capacity that aligns with their interest or passions. Some of the current roles we could use volunteers are as follows:
4-H Shooting Sports- Archery Instructor- We had a great year of archery last year and the program has doubled so far this year. As stated earlier, we meet a couple of times a month for an hour and a half- a good volunteer would be able to help instruct youth in their shooting form and technique and provide another set of eyes on the range to watch for youth safety.
4-H Shooting Sports- Rifle Instructor- We have been able to provide some air rifle instruction at day camps in the past, but need another volunteer or two to help provide safety instruction and shooting instruction with rifles. We currently have very nice compressed-air rifles for youth to use, but need volunteers to help ensure safety on the range and to help maintain equipment.
In the future, we also have the opportunity to provide .22 rifle programs, as well as pistol instruction, but this will only be possible with additional volunteers that can get trained to help.
4-H RiverKids Volunteer- We were fortunate to receive kayaks, paddles, and life vests from the Alabama 4-H state office and are working toward adding additional equipment once we get an enclosed trailer for keeping equipment safe. Youth and volunteers don’t have to have their own equipment to participate, but you would be welcome to bring youth own sit-on-top kayak if you have one. We would like to offer a “level 1” program a few times a year, where we train youth on kayaking techniques and on-the-water safety for half a day, then take youth on a short trip for the second half of the day.
After youth have completed a “level 1” program, then they could sign up for a “level 2” program, which will be a longer day trip on the water involving the youth in what it takes to plan for a trip and allowing them to help plan future trips.
This program required a 5:1 youth to adult ratio, and requires at least 3 leaders for each trip. I (Dr. Kelly) am a certified ACES Staff RiverKids Instructor, and would always be on every trip, but need volunteers to help support the safety of youth on the water and they can be involved in instruction as well, if they would like to share from their expertise.
All 4-H volunteers must be 21 or older and must complete the Alabama 4-H Volunteer Screening Process, which includes an application and background check completed by the volunteer, then I have to completed an Alabama sex offender registry check and check with references provided by the volunteer.
We would then meet for an interview about why you want to be a volunteer and how you would like to serve, then approved volunteers must complete online training modules to help prepare them for volunteerism.
Once a volunteer is approved, then they can attend a training for the role in which they would like to serve: Archery trainings and Rifle trainings are provided at intervals throughout the state and additional trainings can be planned as needed; RiverKids Volunteers would complete a Red Cross online training about water craft safety, then attend a local one-day training for CPR training and RiverKids volunteer training and assessment.
There are many more ways than this to invest in the youth of Escambia County, such as livestock leaders and teachers, resource volunteers that help provide support or instruction for programs (i.e. gardening or sewing or arts), camp volunteers that go with us to summer camp, Cloverbud leaders that help us provide programs to 5-8-year-olds, and other ways as you may have an interest.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to become a 4-H Volunteer, please contact me at [email protected] or call our office at 251-867-7760 or check out the Volunteer Resources online at http://www.alabama4h.com.
Now is a great time to get started in this process so that we can get trained and ready for the spring/summer and include even more programs for our 2020-2021 program year.
