We understand that volunteering your time and energy to a cause or organization is about helping others and helping you feel better about yourself. But there’s nothing wrong with giving a little recognition to members of your group or organization who go above and beyond when it comes to their volunteer work.
There are dozens of awards which are given out every year to those who excel at volunteering, such as The President’s Volunteer Service Award, the Do Something Awards, or the Prudential Spirit of Community Award. You can find most of them by doing a quick search online.
Perhaps there is someone in your group or community that you could nominate for one of these awards. Just being nominated would be a great way to show them that their efforts do not go unnoticed. It also shows that as a leader, you respect everyone in your group and the goals you are all working for.
If it’s too late to nominate someone for one of these awards, or if you can’t find one that fits your organization, there’s no need to worry. You can simply create an award of your own and nominate several of your group members to receive it. After a set amount of time, and if the award goals are met, you can present it to the winner(s) at a group meeting or get-together.
You can find free printable certificates online. They’re customizable, they look official and you can’t beat the price! Or, if you have the funds, you may also consider giving a gift to the winner(s) or those who gave it their best effort. Things like keychains, patches, coffee mugs or ornaments make great gifts for volunteers.
So take a little time and decide how you can recognize your go-getters. Not only will this completely make the day of the person(s) who receive the award, but it can also serve as an incentive for the rest of your group (and even yourself) to get out there and do even more.
Have you ever been nominated or won a prestigious volunteer award? Do you have other ideas for volunteer recognition? We want to know how you have recognized your group members, or been recognized in the past. Share your stories with us by leaving a comment below.
The 4-H Youth In Action Grant is a community improvement grant funded by Cumberland Farms. This grant requires that your 4-H group create a community project which includes the Essential Elements of 4-H and focuses on one of the six following areas; Citizenship, Healthy Living, Workforce Preparation, Safety, Environment, and Science, Engineering and Technology. The goal is to have the 4-H group identify a community issue, develop and implement an action plan with goals and objectives to create positive change in their communities.
From February through November, the Youth In Action Grant awards 43 grants of $1,400 each. Eligible 4-H programs or 4-H Afterschool sites must be located in one of the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island or Vermont.
Click on this link or contact 
The Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has awarded the National 4-H Council with a huge $5 million grant to help support the 4-H National Mentoring program. It will be spread out to include two Mentoring programs in every state in areas deemed to have an increased risk of juvenile delinquency.
Keep an eye out for news of this grant in your local state or community. You can find out more here – 
Hey everyone! This is the first of a new weekly series where we’ll be bringing you interesting news and stories from the world of Scouting. Our main goal is to keep you up to date on Scouting news, but we will also be sharing a collection of fun, interesting and motivating stories from news sources and scouting blogs all over the Internet.
Howdy 4-H’ers. A couple of weeks has gone by since we merged CloverTees.com into ClassB.com and started our new 
How would you like to receive a $3,000.00 scholarship and another $3K to donate to your favorite charity? How about $20K, $30K or even $50K? OK, that may be a silly question, but if you hurry over to the J.C. Penney Facebook page, you can enter to win. All you have to do is submit a 250 word essay on a community project you are planning, along with a photo, and J.C. Penney will choose the winners. But you’d better hurry, the deadline for entry is October 3, 2010.
How does your garden grow? Through hard work and commitment, which is what these 4-H’ers have done in Arkansas. As a community project, they volunteered their time and energy into helping get a community garden started in their local park.
The 2010 International Coastal Cleanup was held last weekend in communities all around the globe.