WAVERLY, Ohio – Throughout the 25-year history of the Farm-N-Friends 4-H Club, community service projects have always been on the agenda for this Pike County club. So, when club advisers Cyndi Wallace, Beth Johnson and Jessy Mustard learned that many families in the county couldn’t afford to purchase appropriate clothes for their children to wear while showing their animals at the Pike County Fair, the trio got busy with a massive clothing drive.

“With nearly a 20 percent poverty rate in Pike County, many families struggle to have basic necessities, and many 4-H families cannot afford to purchase the proper show clothes,” said Joy Bauman, Pike County 4-H Youth Development Educator. ‘The Farm-N-Friends decided to help those youth in need.”

What started in 2019 has grown enormously. More than 60 pairs of jeans, 120 shirts, and dozens of pairs of boots, shoes and belts have been donated to this effort since it began.

The efforts of this 4-H club’s members and advisers have not gone unnoticed, and they were formally recognized with an Ohio 4-H Community Service Award last week at the 2023 Ohio 4-H Volunteer Recognition Luncheon in Columbus. The club was one of three receiving this particular award. This annual luncheon honors hundreds of 4-H volunteers across the state.

“Throughout our 25 years of existence our members have volunteered and worked on many community service projects,” Wallace said. “We started noticing a need for youth to have good, quality show clothes and wanted to give everyone the opportunity to look their best on show day, so we began collecting donations of jeans, shirts, boots, belts and socks in all different sizes to kick off this project in 2019.”

That year, two clothing racks were donated to display the clothes, allowing youth to help themselves in finding something that fits and borrow what they needed. All clothing items are returned to the advisers each evening of the fair.

“If an exhibitor needs show clothes or boots, they can stop by the Farm-N-Friends booth in the 4-H exhibit hall during the fair and borrow any clothes they need,” Wallace said.

During fair season, the trio take turns taking home the dirty clothes each day to wash and return the clothes to the booth in the provided hampers so someone else can use them the next day.

“Except for socks, which are purchased new by the club each year, all of the items that are in the community show clothing booth have been donated from members within our community,” Wallace said.

“Countless youth have benefited from this well-received program that recycles outgrown show ring attire so that others in need don’t have to worry about the expense,” Bauman said. “A post of our early efforts appeared on the Pike County 4-H Facebook page and was shared 136 times by 4-H members and supporters throughout the state. We have learned that numerous other clubs throughout Ohio have replicated this idea to help families in need in their area. Our club continues to participate in monthly community service projects, but our Community Show Clothing booth is something we work on all year round, and one that we hope continues.”

The Community Service Award was also presented to The Ace of Clubs 4-H Club (Licking County) and Equine 4-H Club (Clermont County).

Ohio 4-H Hall of Fame inductees included Steve Arnold (Wood County), Bob McBride (Hardin County), Donna Missler (Williams County) and JoAnn Skiles (Williams County).

The 4-H Innovator Award recognizes any volunteer who has developed new programs, county projects or activities. This year’s honoree was Melissa Stroupe, of Delaware County.

The Ohio Friend of 4-H Award is given to any individual, family or business that has greatly supported and is currently supporting the 4-H program, either financially or philanthropically at the local, county, state or national level. There were four recipients of this award: Dr. Augustine Kellis (Geauga County), Fin Feather Fur Outfitters (Ashland County), Friends of Ohio 4-H Shooting Sports board members and Virgil Strickler (Fairfield County).

The Meritorious Service Award was presented. This award recognized adult 4-H volunteers for long-term meritorious service or a significant singular contribution to county or state 4-H programs. This year’s honorees included Regan Demshar (Lake County), Mary Harp (Ross County), Jerry Krebs (Clermont County) and Teresa Stone (Washington County).

The 4-H Alumni Award was presented to 4-H alumnus who have demonstrated distinctive achievement in their career or service. This year’s honorees were Megan Burgess (Holmes County), Jamie Loudon (Brown County) and Stacy Russell (Muskingum County).

Ohio 4-H has nearly 15,000 volunteers and those with 20-plus years as a volunteer were honored. Topping that list was Mary Wagner, of Lowell (Washington County), with 76 years of volunteer service. Matilda Heavilin, of Cadiz (Harrison County), was next in line with 69 years of service.