Service

4-Hers Give 4 Service Campaign

4-H members, leaders, and volunteers are challenged to "pledge their hands to larger service" and contribute at least four hours of community service each month. Download the Service Activities Information Sheet for great ideas!

Click Here to Report Your Service Hours

By 4-H Curriculum Category

Nearly any service project can have a Centennial flair by just adding a 100 item challenge to commemorate 4-H’s 100th birthday. Here are just a few ideas of projects you could organize in your community.

Citizenship and Civic Education

Make Hero Packs for Operation Military Kids to support local military families.
100 letters challenge – write letters to soldiers letting them know you appreciate their service.
Give out 100 small American flags at a Memorial Day or July 4 parade. Put a sticker on each stick saying the flags are “given by ____________ 4-H Club in honor of our country and the 100th birthday of Utah 4-H”.
Build a 4-H float for a local parade.
March as a 4-H club in local parades.
Wear 4-H T-shirts to any public event to publicize 4-H
100 handshakes “Pay It Forward”
100 Random Acts of Kindness
Distribute voter registration information
Advocate for youth issues with governing bodies
Organize a Christmas Center where those who can’t afford to buy gifts for their families can go to get clothes, toys, household items, food
Write a proposal asking that a vacant lot be turned into a playground. Follow up and build the playground
Adopt a new immigrant family and help them connect to the community
Organize a cultural festival to celebrate and share diversity (and food)
Build a memorial for veterans, or for founders of the community
Investigate needs, publicize, collect, and process items needed for disaster relief
Trick or Treat for UNICEF
Establish a once a week visit and activity time for a nursing home
Collect oral histories from the oldest residents, print, and share them
Help an elderly neighbor – mow, pull weeds, shovel snow, paint
Older 4-H’ers conduct special 4-H program for institutionalized handicapped
Lend a helping hand at a local community center
Write and produce a play about a current issue

Communication and Arts

100 Card Challenge – Make holiday cards for people in nursing homes, hospitals, Meals on Wheels trays
Do a genealogy of the oldest 4-H family you can find in your club or county. Submit their story to the 4-H alumni newsletter.
Tutor younger kids to improve reading and writing skills
Make a list of hotlines for kids who need help. Distribute the list widely to kids as a billfold card
Present special talents (dance, music) to nursing homes
Christmas caroling to elderly and shut-ins
Design posters for non?profit organizations, 4-H office

Consumer and Family Sciences

Organize a food drive for a local food bank. 100 cans (or 100 pounds) challenge might be appropriate for small club or you might want a larger challenge for a countywide effort.
Volunteer to help in preschools, after school child care, homeless shelters, Ronald McDonald houses
Lead a 4-H project for kids in after school programs
Recycle discarded clothing into useful items for the needy
Make quilts for needy
Wash and sanitize toys at a church, school or health department
Deliver demonstrations, presentations on consumer issues
Organize a Neighborhood Crime Watch and engraving of valuables in homes
Help shut-ins with needed home maintenance, renovations
Clean up and paint over graffiti
Develop a brochure of all services and helps available to parents; distribute them
Volunteer to help with child care for those who can’t afford to pay
Act as big buddies to children who need extra support and role models
Coach children in sports
Read books to children in a library program
Make care packages for teenage mothers, including diapers, baby wipes, baby shampoo, lotion, children’s books, and a guide for new parents
Form a welcome wagon for new teenagers to your community
Record children's books on tape and donate books with tapes to a family support center, shelter, or children's hospital
Paint “Happy Factory” toys (http://www.happyfactory.org)
Conduct a clothing repair or sewing workshop for needy people.
Assemble a new parent's kit for the arrival of a newborn.
Collect old magazines and donate them to day care centers.
Collect old clothes and donate them for a dress-up area at a daycare.
Donate Toys & Other Patient-Use Items to Primary Children’s Medical Center call (801-662-5968)
Write a kids' book author and ask them to donate signed copies, auction the books off and donate the money to local library
Donate old eyeglasses to an organization or place that recycles them for the needy.
Adopt a rest home, school for the blind, etc. Commit to give a program 3 -4 times during the year. Commit to visit, read, write letters, or record their life stories on a regular basis.
Take photos during an event and donate them to the event organizers
Start a collection drive for old sports equipment and donate it to needy families

Environmental Education and Earth Sciences

100 Bag Challenge – 100 bags of trash collected. Organize an Adopt a Highway or Adopt a Spot campaign
Deliver stewardship presentations to elementary classes
Install 4?H stenciled trash cans in community parks
Restore stream banks on nearby streams
Control erosion on public lands such as parks
Deliver demonstrations on energy conservation to schools, PTA, service clubs
Organize a community Arbor Day celebration – plant trees in public areas
Plant wildlife food plots in public and private lands
Plant wildflowers in public right of ways
Establish demonstration plot of native plants in a park
Become an active member of an environmental or wildlife organization
Conduct a day camp for younger kids in poor neighborhoods
Collect, build, and install playground equipment for a low income day care center
Promote a special summer week of city wide cleanup. Involve ALL youth groups
Demonstrate home and yard composting throughout the community
Get your school to stop using environmentally unfriendly packaging in the lunchroom
Weatherize homes for the low income families
Start, promote, and maintain a neighborhood, school, or church wide recycling program
Collect Christmas trees and leaves for recycling
Conduct a feasibility study and lobby for a community wide recycling program if your community doesn’t already have one
Build bird feeders to give to senior citizens or aviary societies
Create bike trails in the community
Volunteer at Utah State Parks http://stateparks.utah.gov/volunteer or email Volunteer Coordinator robinwatson@utah.gov
Clean up a cemetery, plant grass and flowers

Healthy Lifestyle

100 mile challenge – Organize active wellness events such as bike rides or hikes, share health tips with participants
100 Blue Ribbon Recipes – collect 4-H recipes from the past and present
Bottle challenge – Promote safe disposal of prescription drugs through local police department or pharmacy
Present anti?drug programs to your school
Organize Kick Butts (anti?smoking) program for junior and senior high students
Advocate or raise funds for mental and emotional health services
Organize and staff a youth crisis hotline
Take food baskets to shut?ins
Help cook and serve at center for homeless, Ronald McDonald house
Promote and take part in food recovery programs in restaurants, etc.
Establish a fitness course in a public park
Sponsor a community blood drive. Contact past donors, set donation appointments, send reminder postcard, put up posters, do radio spots, help unload blood mobile, setup, assist as Gophers
Present safety demonstrations and programs in schools
Conduct safety surveys of homes, farms, tagging safety hazards
Organize and conduct a hunter safety course in the community
Campaign for streetlights or crosswalks at dangerous intersections
Serve in a soup kitchen
Help staff a food pantry on a regular basis
Deliver Meals on Wheels
Design a flier of after-school safety tips and deliver it to daycare centers and grade schools
Create a poison awareness campaign.
Ask your fire department how you can help others learn about fire safety.
Make emergency kits for your home.
Collect money for a good cause.
Create a holiday safety video
Start a campaign against teen suicide.
Volunteer at a police station.
If you're good at fixing bikes, volunteer to teach others how to fix their bikes.
Conduct bike safety checks for your neighborhood.
Sponsor a drug free post prom event.
Organize a drug free pledge campaign.
Organize a self defense workshop

Personal Development and Leadership

100 books or toys collected challenge – Collect used children’s books, make them available to those in need or donate to Head Start, a shelter or other non-profit organization
Volunteer with service agencies that allow you to explore careers of interest
Advocate for training and jobs for those leaving welfare
Serve on church, community boards, and committees
Find a younger kid who needs a friend and introduce him to your hobby
Provide special holiday activities for nursing homes
Set up a book exchange so kids can trade in ones they have read for ones they have not
Organize and conduct community celebrations
Lead Bingo or other games for nursing home residents
Write Letters to the Editor reacting to local concerns of youth
Share your testimony before city, county boards and councils to address problems facing local youth
Gather school supplies for low income children who are starting school
Lead classes for migrant farm children during the summer
Write or read letters for senior citizens who can no longer write or read
Help senior citizens with shopping needs (Christmas, groceries, errands)
Lead recreation and tutoring in a juvenile center
Collect books for the prison library
Offer a shuttle service to help people get to appointments, church, etc.
Create a volunteer guide to non?profit organizations in your community, listing their purpose, needs, and opportunities

Plants and Animals

Plant 100 trees campaign (or flowers or bulbs)
Donate 100 pounds of produce grown by 4-H’ers to a local shelter, pantry, etc.
Give 100 potted plants or flowers to nursing home patients.
Create a clover shaped flower or herb garden in your community.
Farm Day for nursing home residents, school kids
Petting Zoo at the fair, community events
Take pets to nursing homes once a month
Raise guide dog or helper dog puppies
Volunteer at the animal shelter
Get involved with humane society in controlling pet populations, reducing strays, arranging for free or inexpensive spaying and neutering in low income areas
Establish flower and vegetable gardens at nursing homes, help residents care for them
Establish a kid community garden in a vacant lot, with 4-H’ers organizing, serving as resources
Restore a neglected cemetery
Participate in therapeutic horseback riding for adults and kids with disabilities
Donate extra garden produce to the food pantry, soup kitchens
Participate in gleaning of the fields Glean local farm fields and take the produce to the local food bank or soup kitchen

Science and Technology

100 kids explore science challenge – Conduct a 4-H National Science Day experiment in your community
Interview older alumni to preserve their 4-H stories in a video you create
Present science demonstrations in elementary schools
Tutor younger kids who have trouble in science
Conduct a chick embryology program at a school
Make wooden holiday gifts for needy children
Tune up, sharpen, and adjust lawn care machinery for those who need it
Test samples of local drinking water for lead
Reclaim broken bicycles and lawn mowers and donate them to low income families
Make special equipment (such as wheelchair ramps) for people with disabilities
Sort robotics kits for your local 4-H organization

References:
Clint Albrecht, USU 4-H/FCS Faculty – Beaver County
Donna Carter, USU 4-H Faculty – Weber County
Ann Henderson, USU 4-H/FCS Faculty – Box Elder County
4-H Community Service Ideas – Author Not Listed