Throughout the state, Arkansas 4-H clubs make a difference in their communities year-round with individual and group service projects. In a collaboration between National 4-H and the just-out film “Wicked: For Good,” clubs are sharing their good deeds during the #4HForGood Challenge.
Beginning Oct. 9 during 4-H For Good Day and leading to the Nov. 21 release of “Wicked: For Good,” 4-H clubs around the country are encouraged to share their good deeds online with the hashtag #4HForGood.
Community service is a key element of the 4-H youth development program, and Arkansas 4-H clubs participate in service projects in a variety of ways throughout the year.
Josh Beach, Grant County extension 4-H program assistant, said the county’s 4-H clubs provide a Thanksgiving meal at the local senior center every year.
“This is a meal cooked by our 4-H Cooking Club and serviced by our Sheridan 4-H Community Club, the Yellow Jackets,” Beach said. “We also hold a pie-baking contest and have the seniors who live at the center be the judges.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Beach said Grant County 4-H clubs also raise money throughout the year to provide gifts for the local rehab center, and they place flags at a local cemetery on veterans’ headstones for Memorial Day.
Soon, the county’s Outdoor 4-H Club is scheduled to do a litter and trash pickup at Jenkins Ferry Park.
‘BETTER TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE’
One Grant County 4-H member had an idea to give back to first responders through his “Hydrating Our Heroes” project. Preston Bazare, 14, gathered more than 500 cases of water through community donations and delivered them to the Sheridan sheriff’s, Police, Fire and EMS departments three times throughout this summer. He also delivered them to the Sheridan probation and parole office.
“My mom works with our local probation and parole office, and my grandma works for the state troopers, and my stepdad is a firefighter,” Bazare said. “I’ve had some of my family members in the Army, the Air Force and the Navy. It popped into my head, ‘Why don’t I just help the community?’ My family is already helping them, so I can just add to it.”
Bazare put up flyers at his church and at local businesses asking for donations for the project. Several Sheridan businesses contributed to his efforts, including the Kohler Company, Signode Manufacturing & Production, Action Realty and the local Walmart store. “It felt good to help the people who help us,” Bazare said. “It was really hot, and I knew that I was putting my body through a lot, but I was doing it for a greater cause.”
Bazare said that participating in community service through 4-H has helped him spend less time on screens and “taught me that it’s better to give than to receive.”
“I know that video games can be addictive, and I was addicted to them,” Bazare said. “For other kids who are, they just need to try their best to get off of them and help out someone.”
Bazare said he plans to pick the project up again next summer.
COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS
In Washington County, 30 youth individually submitted a total of 4,774 hours of community service work in 2024. Lauren Cheevers, Washington County extension 4-H agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that with more than 350 4-H members, the county’s program stays busy.
“Our goal is to supply youth with the essential life skills to serve their community while fostering their individual ingenuity as they develop ways to meet those needs,” Cheevers said. “From ages 5 to 19, there is always a way for our members to give back.”
Recently, Washington County 4-H held a county-wide service project, where youth and adult volunteers helped sort donations at the Potter’s House Thrift Store warehouse.
“The coordinator with Potter’s House said the work we did equates to around $5,000 worth of impact,” Cheevers said.
Beginning during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024, Washington County 4-H members organized 4-H Cares drives, collecting almost 8,400 pounds of donated relief items. After the devastating floods that struck Texas Hill Country earlier this year, the same group filled a semi-trailer with 12,460 pounds of donations for victims and their families.
“We have also cleaned headstones at a local cemetery, and youth placed wreaths and flags at the National Cemetery,” Cheevers said. “We do canned food drives and hygiene item drives for local senior citizens, and one club even does a yearly stuffed animal drive for youth at the Children’s Safety Center who have experienced abuse.”
In Howard County, the 4-H Teen Leader group recently held a food drive during National 4-H Week and distributed the donations around the community.
“During the holiday season, our teens adopt a family and go shopping for them,” said Samantha Horn, Howard County extension staff chair.
“It is usually a large family, and they buy their holiday meal, along with other food for the kids, during their time off from school. The teens get together and come up with a list of items to purchase and a budget to stay under.
“It is super cool to watch them do this, and then we all go shopping together,” Horn said.
“We also purchase a tree on Main Street to decorate and help bring cheer to our community, sharing what 4-H is all about.”
For details on Arkansas 4-H, visit 4h.uada.edu.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
Rebekah Hall is with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
