Looking for Young Leaders

This article was written by our own Shea Ann DeJarnette for the Robesonian and can also be located on our website.

Social media is a wonderful place for ideas, and thoughts, that may have never crossed your mind.  Recently, I read a post concerning the effects of the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.  Essentially, the post was about the effects on local businesses and residents who don’t have the disposable income right now, because they are dealing with the aftermath of the storm (damage to their home and belongings, construction, etc.). It also mentioned tourists are not stopping as much to shop, eat, and sleep because of the lack of hotel rooms.  I really hadn’t thought about that ripple effect caused by the hurricane until I read the post.

Something else we hadn’t thought about was locating our 4-H members, months after the storm, yet here we are doing just that.  One of our 4-H clubs that has been around for more than 20 years, Young Leaders, meets at Sandy Grove Baptist Church in Lumberton’s south side.  Most of the members in the club lived in the area affected by the flooding. The club has an alternate meeting location, but the issue is finding the members of the club.  We know some are with family and friends in the area; others have moved out of the county.  The problem is most of the contact information is no longer valid.  We want to make sure our members know their 4-H world is right here waiting on them.

So if you are a member, volunteer, or parent of the Young Leaders 4-H Club, there will be a meeting at the N.C. Cooperative Extension (Robeson County Center), 455 Caton Road (Highway 72 W), Lumberton, on Tuesday, February 28, at 6 p.m.  This is your chance to come in, get your paperwork filled out, and start making plans and goals for this year.  Without the members, this club wouldn’t exist.  So please, take a little bit of your time to come out and get your club started again.  We would hate for a hurricane to wipe out a club that has existed for so long.  Robeson County 4-H members, the power to stop the hurricane’s destruction lies within you.  Come on out and make the difference we know you can make.

If you are not a current member but would like to be, we encourage you to come out and see what it’s about.  In Robeson County, there are several clubs open to all youth between the ages of 5 and 18.  Some clubs focus on a topic such as animals, horses, and gardening; others are reflective of their community and work on more traditional 4-H projects such as public speaking, project record books, and leadership.  We want to remind our youth the sky is the limit with 4-H.  It’s time for our Young Leaders to step up and give the rest of the world an idea on how making a difference is done.

For more information, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by E-mail at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu, or visit our website at http://robeson.ces.ncsu.edu/.  North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.