Somerset County 4-H Club Members Receive Awards
National 4-H Week was celebrated October 2-8, and the festivities began early this year in Somerset County.
The Just Kidding 4-H goat club was presented with national awards in the Junior American Citizens contest at the Somerset County 4-H Association meeting on September 21. The club placed first in the nation with their community service project. Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) presented the awards at the Ted Blum 4-H Center of Somerset County in Bridgewater.
“We are very proud of these young people and all that they managed to accomplish even with the pandemic,” said New Jersey DAR 4-H Liaison Holly Jean Dunbar. The club collected 192 books that were donated to members of the military, at home and abroad, via Operation Paperback.
Elizabeth Snyder-Continental Chapter DAR sponsored the 4-H club in the contest. Chapter members presented the 4-H’ers with their awards that included ribbons, certificates and a medal that represented the four judging levels of the competition, local, state, division and national. As a special treat, DAR member and 4-H alumna Dorothea Borkowski presented each child with home-baked goat-shaped cookies. DAR members assisting in the awards presentation were Vice Regent Marti Kalko, a 4-H volunteer, and Librarian Susan Dobrinsky, a 4-H alumna, both of Green Brook, along with Chaplain Karen Miller and Historian Lynda Pasko from Dunellen.
4-H club leaders Beth Kavanaugh and Nicole Perry had expressed their gratitude for the help provided by Marion McGlyn of Operation Paperback. Every 4-H club is asked to complete an annual service project. Studies have shown that as adults, 4-H alumni are twice as likely to be civically engaged and four times more likely to participate in community service.
Along with congratulating the 4-H club, Dunbar, who is a 4-H alumna and volunteer, also thanked the members of the 4-H Association and 4-H Agent Lisa Rothenburger and staff. “This is the fifth Somerset County 4-H club that has received a national DAR award for service since 1993,” said Dunbar. “This is just a phenomenal record. And it proves that you must be doing something right.”
The DAR is a nonprofit service organization open to women 18 and over who can trace their descent from a man or woman who aided the cause of American independence. For more than a century, the DAR has promoted historical preservation, education, and patriotic endeavor. Elizabeth Snyder-Continental Chapter, based in Green Brook, sponsors local students in a variety of annual DAR contests. Membership inquiries are welcome. ContactESCRegent@yahoo.com or learn more at DAR.org.
The 4-H Youth Development Program uses a learn-by-doing approach to enable youth to develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills that they need to succeed in life. Kids and teens complete hands-on projects in areas such as science, health, agriculture and civic engagement. 4-H programs are open to young people in grades K to 13 (one year out of high school). To learn more about Somerset County 4-H, visit 4HisTops.org.
Courtesy photos
