4-H Volunteer Appreciation

Johnson County 4-H relies on caring adults that generously donate their time to continue delivering engaging programming for our youth. With almost 300 registered adults in the Johnson County 4-H program, we are lucky to call all of those dedicated individuals volunteers.

In honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week this year, we will be spotlighting 4-H volunteers on our social media pages and the great work that they do throughout the year. These volunteers allow us to expand the reach of Johnson County 4-H in ways that would be impossible for the 4-H Team to accomplish on their own.

In addition to these wonderful adults that give their time, we would also like to spotlight the youth in Johnson County 4-H that spend their time giving back to their community. According to a national study, youth in our country are volunteering in increasing numbers.

Young people are seeking out opportunities to improve the world by volunteering their service to projects they deem to be important.

“Out of 13.3 million youth, 59.3% volunteer an average of 3.5 hours per week, versus 49% of the adult population volunteer an average of 4.2 hours.”

While benefits to the communities served can be translated to a monetary figure, the benefits earned by youth volunteer have a positive impact on them personally both immediate and into the future. These can include:

• Learning to respect others; learning to be helpful and kind; learning to understand people who are different; developing leadership skills, becoming more patient, and better understanding of citizenship.
• Seventy-three percent of young people think their efforts can have a positive impact on their communities.
• Youth who volunteer gain important job skills and experience, while exploring career options.
• Young volunteers expand their social circle and enhance their social awareness.

According to the youth in Johnson County who volunteer through 4-H, they feel it is important to volunteer because:

• It allows them to “inspire and give opportunity to give back!”
• There are “County-wide citizenship opportunities.”
• They can” write cards, make crafts and inspire others though 4-H.”
• “4-H gives me opportunities to grow in all the activities I love. As well as it gives me all kinds of knowledge for my future.”

We celebrate all our participants who dedicate their time to 4-H in Johnson County and thank you again for always working to make the best better!

Source: Young Volunteers: The Benefits of Community Service

Contact:

Lexi Ray
4-H/Youth Development Agent
lexi.ray@jocogov.org