- Author: Saoimanu Sope
When 4-H in Ventura County sought to raise funds that would help it meet the needs of local youth now and in the future, the community responded with tremendous generosity.
A national youth development organization, 4-H aims to empower young people with leadership skills for personal and professional growth. In California, the 4-H program falls under the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources umbrella and is administered through local UC Cooperative Extension offices based in counties across the state.
In May 2023, the Ventura 4-H Volunteer Management Board established the Forever 4-H Ventura County Endowment to ensure sustained financial support for future Ventura County 4-H youth.
Recognizing the value of long-term financial sustainability for 4-H, the Ventura County Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture organized a donation drive to grow the endowment. By July 2024, their members and supporters had donated over $30,000 in support of Ventura County 4-H youth.
“With deep gratitude, the UC 4-H Youth Development program in Ventura County would like to thank every individual and organization for their generosity,” said Shannon Klisch, UC Cooperative Extension Area Director for San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
“A special thank you to our partners at the Farm Bureau of Ventura County for their leadership in raising over $30,000 to support 4-H youth. We know that 4-H youth are more likely to be civically engaged and make healthy choices than their peers and the difference that 4-H can make is in large part due to the supporters and donors that make programming possible," she added.
Funds from the endowment will support general 4-H operations and new programming for youth in 4-H which may include establishing a 4-H camp in Ventura County, increasing programming for youth at the Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and providing youth with opportunities to develop leadership and life skills.
To learn more about the Forever 4-H Endowment Fund, visit: https://ucanr.edu/sites/4hfoundation/Forever_4-H/
To learn more about 4-H in Ventura County, visit: https://ceventura.ucanr.edu/Families_-_Communities/
Editor's note: The month of donations last received has been updated and program plans for the funds have also been specified in the last paragraph.
/span>- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
California PLT operates through a network of more than 200 facilitators, resource professionals and researchers across the state who deliver information and training to community-based organizations, outdoor schools, formal and non-formal educational settings. CAL FIRE, USDA Forest Service, other state agencies and private forestry companies also provide support.
Derby has been working closely with Mike De Lasaux, UCCE forestry advisor and principal investigator on the CAL FIRE grant in Plumas and Sierra counties, who was instrumental in bringing the environmental education program from CAL FIRE to UC. Together they are trying to recruit more resource professionals for PLT programs and to train more teachers, parents and community leaders who work with youth.
To help integrate PLT in the Youth, Family and Communities Statewide Program, Shannon Horrillo, 4-H Youth Development director, is taking on Co-PI status with De Lasaux.
“Ideas, efforts and plans have been shaped for PLT to partner with 4-H volunteer and leadership training,” said Derby, whose position is in the Youth, Families and Communities Statewide Program. “We are also working with ANR's research and extension center directors to use the RECs as training hubs to host upcoming PLT events and workshops.”
Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education of the American Forest Foundation. The primary goal of PLT is to teach students how to think, not what to think about complex environmental issues. Before becoming part of UCCE in 2013, California Project Learning Tree had been delivered through the support of CAL FIRE for 25 years.
For more information, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/PLT_UCCE. To get involved with Project Learning Tree or to share ideas, contact Sandy Derby at stderby@ucanr.edu.