Hey 4-H’ers! As we continue our roundup of grants and scholarships inspired by nature, we’ve found some very exciting opportunities this week. So get working on those applications and good luck!

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FishAmerica Foundation Grants



Deadline: Varies

Any 4-H fishers out there? We hope so, because this opportunity is perfect for you! The FishAmerica Foundation provides funding for hands on-projects at the local level thatbenefit sport fishing populations and the sport of fishing.

A variety of grants are offered at different times throughout the year, for projects focusing on subjects such as enhancing fish populations, restoring habitats and improving water quality. Applications are accepted year-round, so we suggest you check the FishAmerica’s website grants page often to see which grants are available and apply for one that fits your needs. We hope you hook this great opportunity!




Fruit Tree Planting Foundation Orchard Grants

Deadline: Rolling

Want to help out the earth and get free fresh fruit for your good efforts? Presented by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, Fruit Tree Orchard Grants provide high-quality fruit trees and shrubs to recipients such as nonprofit clubs and public schools who pledge to care for the trees and utilize them for a charitable purpose.

So if you’re interested in a 4-H project that’s healthy for both the surrounding environment and for the community, this one’s for you! This document will tell you more about the program including how to apply.

Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program


Deadline: October 15, 2011

Established by Wild Ones in 1996, the Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program gives small monetary grants to schools, nature centers and nonprofits for stewardshipprojects using native plants.

Successful non-school applicants are often partnerships between a groups such as 4-H and site owners, so this would be a great opportunity to reach out to your local community! Cash awards range from $100 to $500, to use toward the purchase of native plants and seeds.

Learn more about this grant program and download an application here.

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Tune in next week for more grants and scholarships to keep on your radar. And as always, if you know about an opportunity that we haven’t featured here, you can tell us about it in the comment field below!

Hello again 4-H’ers! We hope everyone’s had a great St. Patrick’s Day. We certainly did!

We also hope everyone enjoyed the first “official” day of spring. On that note, we’re back this week with some more spring-inspired grant and scholarship opportunities. Get those applications submitted and good luck to everyone!

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It’s All About the Fruit! Grant Program

Deadline: April 11, 2011

Sponsored by Jamba Juice, the It’s All About the Fruit grant program provides schools and organizations with fruit trees to create engaging nutrition and gardening experiences.

20 recipients will receive fruit trees valued at $500 and the Jamba Juice It’s All About the Fruit Youth Garden Guide. Recipients will be selected based on plans to promote nutrition education, ideas for incorporating fruit tree activities into the curriculum, and ability to sustain the program over multiple years.

This April deadline will be here before you know it, so come on 4-H leaders, get those creative “juices” flowing! Learn more and download an application here.

Shade Structure Program

Deadline: April 22, 2011

Chances are, many of your 4-H club’s projects and events take place outside in the sun. Wouldn’t it be cool (no pun intended) to be able to provide shade and UV ray protection in an area where your club meets or spends a lot of time?

The American Academy of Dermatology awards grants in the amount of $8,000 each for the purchase of permanent shade structures for nonprofit organizations serving children and teens who are 18 and younger. The AAD also provides a permanent sign to be displayed near the shade structure that promotes the importance of sun safety.

Find out if your club is eligible and learn how you can get sponsored by an AAD member dermatologist.

California State Beekeepers Association Scholarship

Deadline: May 31, 2011

Hey Californians, check out this scholarship buzz: The California State Beekeepers Association is offering one $500 scholarship to a 4-H’er who has participated in a beekeeping project at any time during their 4-H membership. Students pursuing any field of scholastic endeavor are eligible for the award, but preference will be given to those students who plan to enter the bee industry.

For directions on how to apply, and to see other scholarships offered by the California 4-H Youth Development Program, click here. (Information about the Beekeepers Association Scholarship can be found on page 4 of this PDF.)

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That wraps up this week’s grant and scholarship findings! Come back next week to discover more opportunities. And if you know of something we haven’t featured here, please tell us about it in the comment field below!

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Finding a scholarship to help further your education is much like searching for a 4-H project grant, which we discussed in Part 1. There are three things you need to consider before you begin looking for that perfect scholarship.

You should first decide on your area of expertise and what your field of study will encompass. Many 4-H scholarships are based on the area of study you are electing to pursue, so obtaining an Agriculture scholarship will not be good if you are going into the field of Robotics. Know what you want to do first.

Once you have decided on your area of study, you should try to compose a list of schools which you would like to attend. Many scholarships are awarded only if you plan on enrolling in a specific school or University. If you do not want to leave your home town, then you wouldn’t want to apply for a scholarship at a school across the state or elsewhere in the country.

Finally, you need to decide how much funding you will be needing. If you absolutely cannot get by with anything less than, say $5000, then applying for a $1000 scholarship may not be a good idea because you will be unable to fund your remaining coursework. Those who award scholarships like to know that you will complete your coursework and earn your degree or certificate. There is, however, nothing saying you couldn’t obtain five $1000 scholarships.

Now you’re ready to begin your scholarship search. If your school of choice is close by, you can take a trip to their financial aid office and make an appointment with a counselor to discuss possible scholarships, grants or funding sources. Make sure to have all the information we discussed above ready for the counselor to facilitate your time together.

You can also use the Internet to find available opportunities. First, visit the website(s) of the school(s) you wish to attend. Most of them will have a page or section dedicated to financial aid, grants and scholarships. Take your time and don’t jump at the first one you see. Spend more time and look at all of your options – you may end up with a better opportunity if you do your homework!

Make sure that if you use a search engine, that you perform detailed search queries. For example, if you are looking for an agriculture scholarship at the University of Florida then don’t just search for “Florida scholarships”. This will return relevant results, but more often than not, you will be trudging through hundreds of outdated or completely irrelevant results. Instead, search for “4-H agriculture scholarship 2011 application.”

By adding more detail to your search query, you will not only save a lot of time looking through meaningless results, you will quite possibly find the best scholarship for your area of study and funding goals.

Finally, a surprising amount of people believe that in order to get a scholarship for college or for continuing education, you need to maintain a GPA north of 4.0. This is simply not true. While some scholarships do require an impeccable grade point average, many only require you to have average grades. Obviously, they don’t want to award a scholarship to someone who will not complete the coursework, but as long as you show commitment and desire in your application, grades aren’t as important with many of the scholarships out there. So don’t be afraid or embarrassed to apply for an opportunity because of less-than-stellar grades – you just might get it!

Conclusion

Don’t let a lack of money stand in the way of you completing a 4-H project or getting into college! There are thousands of grants and scholarships out there just waiting for you to take of advantage of. All you have to do is know where and how to find them. Hopefully, by using the techniques above and in Part 1 of this blog series, you are now armed with the skills necessary to get out there and track them down.

Just remember that you need to do a little preparation before you start searching. Make sure you know exactly what you want to do, where you want to do it and how much funding will be necessary to complete your goals.

Please let us know about your grant or scholarship experience. Were you able to find one easily? Was it tough? Did the funding bring your project to completion? Leave a comment in the field below and let us know all about it.

Thanks for reading and GOOD LUCK to all of you!

Most of us realize that the living conditions in most parts of Afghanistan are not as suitable as they should be. And this stretches into their educational system as well. In fact, Afghanistan schools and students, which have been devastated from 30 years of war, anti-education politics and an unstable government, are in dire need of assistance. Said Afghan Col. Haji Toor Jan, Afghanistan National Police security commander of civil affairs, “When I was a little boy, if someone had given me a pen instead of a gun, this country would be a better place.” Well that is exactly what a program called “Backpacks For Afghanistan” is doing. Soldiers are collecting donations from all over the world to bring school supplies and teaching supplies to students and teachers across Afghanistan, rebuilding their educational system one student and teacher at a time. Backpacks for Afghanistan offers a tremendous humanitarian project opportunity for any 4-H club. I you or your Group would like to collect donations and help send backpacks to Afghanistan, then you can do what the Clover Explorer 4-H Club of Bremer County did, and send backpacks full of school supplies overseas. You can even look for and apply for a 4-H grant to help fund the project! Way to go Clover Explorers! You’ve helped children all the way around the world and you’ve set a great example for other 4-H clubs at the same time. Keep up the great work. Here’s another really cool story about one of the founders of the Backpacks for Afghanistan campaign – ONE member and US Army major gives back to children in Afghanistan.

Mark Warren, a Flagler County Agriculture Extension Agent, recently decided to coordinate an educational project for his County’s 4-H’ers while, at the same time, gather data from the participants in order to make future similar projects even more of a success. The project involves the 4-H members receiving 6 newborn chicks, a bag of feed, wood shavings and electrolyte powder for the chick’s water. As soon as each chick shows the project coordinators that it can eat and drink on its own, it is given to one of the project participants. From then until the Flagler County Fair in April, the chicks will be cared for and raised by the 4-H’ers. The purpose of the project is twofold. First, it is meant to educate the children on caring for and raising animals. Each project participant will be in charge of identifying which breed of chicken their chick is from, and raising it from infancy. They will be engaging in all aspects of raising the chicken from giving it electrolytes as prescribed, to incubating it properly, to feeding and preparing it for showing at the fair. The second goal of the project is for the project coordinators to analyze the participants themselves. As each participant raises his or her chicks, they will be documenting the process in a log. Among the things they are to be documenting are:

• Goals for the project.
• What was learned and at what time.
• What could be done differently.

The hope is that the project will educate the 4-H members on raising the animals and showing them at the fair, as well as to enhance future chicken projects to make them even better for the participants. Here’s a link to the local news story about this cool project – 4-H members start down path to responsibility by raising chicks. Good luck to Mark and all the Flagler 4-H’ers. We’ll see you at the Fair in April! If you have participated in a project similar to this one, where the project participants also gave advice for making the project better, then we’d love to hear about your experience! Leave us a comment in the comments field below. Don’t be shy!

There are literally thousands of 4-H grants and scholarships available to 4-H members all across the country. Most are found on the local, or county level, but there are many statewide and nationwide opportunities as well. Whether you’re looking for help to fund a 4-H project, or help to further your own education, you should always try and find the grant or scholarship that most closely matches the specific project or your area of expertise.

The biggest problem that most 4-H’ers face is that they don’t know how to search for and find the opportunity that is right for them. This post will help you do just that.

Finding Grants for 4-H Projects

The first thing you should do is to sit down and analyze exactly what you need the funding for. Will it be for a community service project, a youth development project, improvements to your 4-H facility, a 4-H member drive?

Once you have decided the main purpose for the funding, you then need to decide how much funding will be enough to see your project through to completion. You don’t want to obtain a grant only to realize later that your are still short on funds and end up postponing or canceling the entire project.

Now you are ready to begin your search. A good place to start is by contacting your Group’s extension or visiting their website. Most Extensions have a web page dedicated to grants and scholarships. If you don’t see a link for Grants and Scholarships, look for “Awards” or “Programs.” Browse through the list of available opportunities and see if any of them match your project goals and funding level. If so, apply!

Like we said above, most opportunities are on the local, or county level. To find these, you can obviously contact your local 4-H Council and see if they are aware of something that would match your goals. This could take time and the person you speak with may be unaware of a new or obscure grant which could be right up your alley, but don’t skip this step because you could miss the perfect opportunity.

Then you should begin searching online. Most people will skip everything above and start here. But remember, you need to have your plans, goals and funding limits finalized before applying for your grant.

We have been searching for 4-H grants online for months here at ClassB, and we’ve found that detailed search phrases are much better to use than generic phrases. For example, let’s say that you live in Tampa, Florida, which is in Hillsborough County. Most people would simply search for “4-H Grants” or “4-H Grants in Tampa.” Although you will get back a lot of results, you are going to be weeding through dozens of pages that are most likely not what you’re looking for.

What we suggest is to be more detailed in your search query. For instance, instead of just searching for “4-H Grants”, do a search for “4-H grant youth development Hillsborough County” or “4-H grants Hillsborough County application” and you’ll find much more targeted results. Be as creative and detailed as you can get. Here are a few more examples:

• 4-H grant Hillsborough apply here community service
• Hillsborough County 4-H grant application apply
• 4-H Hillsborough Florida grants community service grant apply

As you can see from the list above, the search queries don’t need to make grammatical sense. Just plug in the words that you feel will get you the results you are searching for. Once you do a few searches in this manner, you will begin to narrow down your search results and increase your chances of finding the perfect grant for your project.

Once you find something that looks promising, follow through and apply as soon as possible. Most grants have application deadlines and limits to how many Groups can obtain them.

Hopefully these tips will guide you to the grant that is perfect for your unique situation. Just remember to have your goals set and make sure the grant matches your needs before applying.

As always, we’d like to hear what you have to say. Have you been awarded a grant? How did you find it? Have you been having trouble finding that perfect grant for your project? Let us know in the comments field below.

Be on the lookout for Part 2 of this blog post which will discuss finding scholarships for 4-H students.

Good luck everybody!

Howdy 4-H’ers. Are you guys and gals keeping warm? We’re definitely getting into the winter season and it has been COLD! It is forecast to be in the 20’s here in West Central Florida tonight. That may seem like a tropical paradise to some of you, but for us down here in Florida, that’s a big deal.

As the weather is getting colder, it seems like the world of 4-H Grants and Scholarships is heating up. We’re finding more and more of them lately and we want you to jump on them and get some extra money for your next 4-H project or for your own college education.

We feature several of them below. Get those applications submitted and good luck to everyone!

 

2011 Hills Bank & Trust Leadership Grant program

Hills Bank and Trust, along with the Iowa 4-H Foundation, have announced the 2011 Hills Bank & Trust Leadership Grant program. Each grant will total $1,000 with $500 to be paid each Fall semester of the qualifying recipient’s first two years of college.

Applicants will be evaluated on their involvement in community service and student group activities, work experience and their high school academic information, which includes a grade point average of 2.8 or higher. This is limited to certain counties in Iowa, so click on the link below to see if you’re eligible.

Applications are due on or before February 1st, so don’t wait around for this one. It’s always better to get your application ready ahead of time in order to overcome any unforeseen issues – 2011 Hills Bank & Trust Leadership Grant program.
 

More Iowa 4-H Grants and Scholarships

While we were researching the grant program above, we came across the Iowa State University 4-H Extension website’s Scholarships page. It is very easy to navigate and offers tons of resources to help you reel in that scholarship you have your eye on.

They currently have a scholarships broken down into these categories: Incoming Freshmen, Current College Students, Attending Iowa State University, Colleges other than Iowa State University, Attending Community Colleges and Majors other than agriculture.

Toward the bottom of the page, you’ll find resources, other scholarships you may be eligible for as well as other 4-H opportunities. Check it out here – Iowa 4-H Scholarships.
 

University of California 4-H Healthy Living Grant Opportunity

Healthy Living is a core belief of 4-H and the University of California 4-H Youth Development Program is providing a grant opportunity for California 4-H Group who wish to do a project promoting it.

4-H members are encouraged to maintain control of the project from applying for funding and leading the project, partnering with one or more adults throughout the process. The healthy living project that is proposed by the applicant must provide a focus on service-learning, leadership and/or youth-adult partnerships.

These mini-grants are available to all California 4-H Clubs, Units and Groups. Click here to find out all the details – California 4-H Healthy Living Grant Program.
 

California’s President’s Scholars Program Scholarship

Are you a California resident planning on attending Cal State L.A.? If you have high achievement, motivation and a commitment to education, then you need to take a look at this major scholarship program.

They are rewarding several $20,000 scholarships ($5,000 per year, that may be renewed for up to three additional years), to selected California high school seniors who apply for and are accepted into the program. And if you are not selected for the President’s Scholars Program, your application will be considered for other Cal State L.A. scholarships.

Here is a link to information about the President’s Scholars Program and other California Scholarship opportunities – Cal State L.A. Scholarship Opportunities.
 

Montana 4-H Scholarships Abound

Let’s not forget about the great state of Montana! Montana’s 4-H Program offers several statewide scholarship opportunities right there on the Montana State University Extension website.

From Agri-Business to Shooting Sports, there are scholarships for everyone in Montana. Don’t wait on these scholarships, folks. The longer you wait, the more chance of someone else getting to it before you do.

Here is a link to the web page of statewide Montana Scholarship opportunities – Montana 4-H Foundation Scholarships.

 

Remember there are literally thousands of scholarship and grant opportunities for 4-H students all over the country and right there in your local area. If you can’t find something up your alley, simply contact your college of choice’s financial aid office or your high school counselor and they will be able to help you find something to fit your needs and financial status.

That’s it for this week. Don’t let the cold weather slow down your grant and scholarship search, you may miss out on a great opportunity!

If you know of an opportunity that we haven’t featured here, please tell us about it in the comment field below!

Hey 4-H’ers! Welcome back to our 4-H Week In Review series. This week we’re bringing you a refreshing assortment of cool stories from around the country.

As always, if you know of a newsworthy 4-H story, don’t be shy! Post it below in the comments section.

• Here’s a really cool and fun way to gather food donations for your local pantries.

  The Buffalo County 4-H Youth Leaders Council will be going door to door looking for porch lights that are on. If the porch light is on, they will sing carols in exchange for canned food items. Donations will be distributed to the elderly involved with the Buffalo County Aging and Disability Resource Center.

  This is a great way to help your community and spread holiday cheer all at once! You could also ask for blankets, coats or other items that would help the needy in your area.

  Super idea Buffalo County 4-H! You guys and gals are doing a great thing for your community members – 4-H Council Carols for Canned Goods.




• The Louisburg Explorers 4-H Club spent last Sunday shopping for holiday gifts – but they weren’t shopping for anyone they know.

  For the 7th year in a row, the 4-H members and parents gathered to purchase holiday presents for families that are less fortunate and would otherwise not have much under their Christmas trees. This not only makes a family’s holiday better, it teaches the 4-H members about volunteerism and citizenship.

  We know that these “adopted families” programs happen all over the country, so let us know about your experience by leaving a comment below! Here’s a link to the story about the Louisburg Explorers experience – Explorers 4-H Club Brings Christmas To Those In Need.




• This week marked the event that Wyoming 4-H’ers have been preparing for for months. The Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship was held at the Casper Events Center on Sunday.

  Teams designed and built robots made of Legos and tiny parts, and programmed them to do 14 different tasks. Sixty teams from all over Wyoming earned a spot in the Championship this year, but only one could end up as champion.

  Find out all about the competition and which team came out on top – Students Compete in Robotics Challenge.




• For the first of hopefully many years to come, 4-H was involved in the Great American Louisiana Seafood Cook-off, an annual event in New Orleans.

  During the event, 4-H members from all over Louisiana were able to show off their culinary skills. Organizers hope the 4-H cook-off will become an annual part of the event.

  As a seafood lover, I only wish I would have been there to taste some of their creations. Very cool! Click this link to see the video – 2010 4-H Seafood Cook-off.




• On Dec. 5, several thousand Michigan 4-H members and their families from 49 different counties filled the Breslin Center for the Michigan State University Lady Spartans game. It turned out to be the 3rd largest crowd ever attending a Lady Spartans game!

  4-H displays and material were setup throughout the arena and the 4-H Pledge was recited by the crowd.

  Here’s a great blog post with more details of the event. Sounds like it was a great experience for everyone involved! – Day at the Breslin Celebrates 4-H.

Well, that’s it for this week everybody. We know there are some stories and announcements that we missed, so if you have a story or news event you’d like to share, just leave it in a comment below.

Now It’s Your Turn! Leave a comment below and let us know what you think!

Have a great weekend, stay warm and we’ll see you next week!

Once you have introduced your child to volunteerism and you have convinced them to try it with you, there will come a time when the child will be ready to go out and do some volunteering on their own – with adult supervision, of course.

It is important that you do not allow them to volunteer at the first place that comes to mind. You want the volunteering experience to be in an appropriate atmosphere, with responsible adults, and you want the child to be doing something that he or she has a special interest in. This allows them to actually enjoy the activity and assures their physical and emotional safety.

Make It Appropriate For Your Child’s Age And Skills

Make sure the child has a say in the final decision, but always be prepared to tell them no if they want to do something that you feel is not appropriate for them. As parents and guardians, we should make sure that the child is participating in a volunteer activity that is both appropriate for their age and inline with their social skills. For instance, if your child is only 5 or 6 years old, they should probably not be volunteering in a hospital or hospice environment where they could possibly see things that 5 year olds simply shouldn’t see.

Also, make sure that the activity you decide on will fit in with the child’s physical and emotional skills. For example, if they are good readers, perhaps they could volunteer to read for the elderly or smaller children. If they are comfortable around handicapped children then there are many opportunities available, however a lot of children are not emotionally ready to work with special needs children. You need to give it a lot of thought and make sure the opportunity fits the child well.

Make It Interesting And Fun

The volunteer activity you choose should also be consistent with your child’s interests.

Look for things that your child can relate to. If they enjoy using their hands, perhaps they could volunteer for cleaning work or landscaping help. If they play a musical instrument, perhaps there are opportunities at your local performing arts center or performing arts academy. If they love animals, they could volunteer at your local animal shelter.

The more your child can relate to the work, the better the chance of them enjoying their time and gaining the momentum most kids require to continue volunteering.

Some Ideas To Get You Started

Here are a few ideas to get you started looking for that perfect volunteering opportunity for your child. Remember that you don’t have to volunteer at a major facility or organization. There are hundreds of smaller, more focused volunteer opportunities available all over your area as well.

• Community Volunteering – Check out your local museums and libraries for child volunteer programs. You can also search for local food pantries to help stock, prepare and/or serve the food to the needy. Or, you could seek out local retirement facilities where your child could visit the elderly and help out around the facility.


• Volunteering To Help Animals – Does your child love animals? If so, there are many opportunities out there. Give a call to your local Humane Society. They are usually excited to bring in volunteers who can help with the animals or simply provide some temporary companionship. You may also think about calling your local Wildlife Foundation for information on their volunteer programs.


• Sponsor Someone Special – There are programs available to let you sponsor a family, a soldier or another child who is in need of help in some way. This will not take a lot of time, but can bring so much joy and happiness to the lives of everyone involved.


• Join Child Volunteer Organizations – Organizations such as 4-H, The Boy Scouts of America and Kiwanis Key Club are always encouraging and helping their members volunteer in the community. Many of them will also help foster beneficial, ethical values that can remain with your child for life. For parents who do not have the time available to help their kids to the fullest, these organizations are a blessing.

There are also many volunteer websites online that will facilitate finding that perfect opportunity for your child. Visit your favorite search engine and do a search for volunteer opportunities in your local area. You can also check out Volunteermatch.com who can quickly find opportunities in your area. Click on the “Advanced” search and you can search for specific skill sets, age groups and more.
If you haven’t read parts 1 and 2 of this blog series, make sure to go back to the beginning and find out the major benefits that volunteering can bring to your children and how to introduce them to volunteerism without seeing them run for the door.

– Teaching Kids And Teens About Volunteering – Part 1: The Benefits – Teaching Kids and Teens About Volunteering – Part 2: Introducing Them To Volunteer Work

Finally, we’d like to hear what you think! Have you successfully persuaded your child to volunteer? What were the hardest things about it and what do you, as a parent, get out of it? Let us know by leaving a comment in the field below.