April marks the national "Month of the Military Child", so the 4-H Military Program invited all members to show their support of military families by wearing purple on April 15th.  Purple is the color that symbolizes all branches of the military as it is a combination of Army green, Coast Guard blue, Air Force blue, Marine red, and Navy Blue.

At Jefferson 4-H's April meeting all members were encouraged to wear purple that night.  One 4-H father who is active duty Coast Guard was able to attend and is included in the group photo below.  The activity encouraged all of the members to share whether any of their immediate family is on active duty or is a veteran; it turned out that 98% of the members at that meeting are somehow connected to the military.

As a follow-up community service project, Jefferson 4-H will be collecting flowers and leis that will be placed upon the graves of fallen soldiers at local cemeteries.

If you or your club is interested in reaching out to the military youth in your community, please contact the County 4-H Office or the 4-H Military Program Representative, Jeanne Christenson, at jpchristenson@ucanr.edu.   For example, one new activity the 4-H Military Program is promoting are "Welcome Home Garden" seed packets that can either be distributed to veterans and service members or planted in their honor at community gardens.