2000 Volunteer Leader Training Guide
Beyond 4-H Community Service. . .To Community Service Learning
Recognition Opportunities for 4-H Community Service Learning
Handout 3
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4-H Club Community Service Awards
The Arkansas 4-H Foundation sponsors annually a $100 cash award
to the two clubs with the most outstanding community service programs for the
past year. A club is eligible to receive the honor only twice in succession. The
report should cover projects conducted during the previous 12 months. Clubs need
to submit a scrapbook including the following items: introduction or title page,
Club Community Service Report Form (4-H Events Packet), story, pictures, news
clippings, and other documentation. This report is due in the Family, Youth and
4-H Education Office on March 1. Be sure to check with your county Extension
office for the county due date.
Arkansas’s Promise began when the Presidents’ Summit was held in
Philadelphia in 1997. The commitment of 4-H was to Goal 5 (providing youth with
the opportunity to give back to their community). Nationally, 4-H committed to
involve an additional 300,000 young people in community service by the year
2000. Arkansas has committed to involving 20,000 of these. 4-H can help reach
this goal! If every 4-H club member invites one other young person to
participate in a local community service project, 4-H can make a significant
contribution to reaching this goal. By participating in this award program and
reporting your community service efforts, you can help us reach this goal.
Channel 4 Community Service Awards
Each year, the Channel 4 Community Service Awards recognize
Arkansans who give voluntarily of their time and talents to better the quality
of life in their communities. The Governor’s Office, KARK-TV and the Department
of Human Services Division of Volunteerism co-sponsor the awards, presented
during a statewide banquet at the Excelsior Hotel and televised on Channel 4.
There are three categories of recognition: 1) individual adults,
2) corporations (large and small for profit businesses) and 3) youth. For a
nomination form, call Marcus Devine at the Department of Human Services,
Division of Volunteerism (501-682-7540).
National Youth Service Day
Youth Service Arkansas (YSA) is an opportunity for youth groups
to give back to your local community through service that benefits its
residents. It also provides an opportunity for your mayor to publicly recognize
the contributions of your youth group. The program is sponsored by the
Department of Human Services Division of Volunteerism. The program begins with
Arkansas Volunteer Month (September) and ends March 31. Mayors will be provided
certificates with which to recognize participating youth groups in April on
National Youth Service Day. For more information and to get your YSA Youth
Organization Packet, contact Jackie Stubblefield, DHS Division of Volunteerism,
P. O. Box 1437, Slot #1300, Little Rock, AR 72203-1437, phone: 501-682-7540 or
1-888-SERVE-47, fax: 501-682-6752.
Make A Difference Day
Each year on the fourth Saturday in October, millions of
Americans commit time, effort and expertise to make a difference in our
communities across the nation. That day is called Make a Difference Day. Here’s
what you can do: mentor at-risk kids, clean up neighborhoods, fix up schools,
comfort the lonely, organize a food/clothing collection, visit with elderly
neighbors or hold an event for a good cause. USA Weekend magazine sponsors the
day in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation. Grants and awards
totaling $2.6 million will be made available to organizations participating in
Make a Difference Day activities. For more information, call the Make a
Difference Day Hot Line: 1-800-416-3824 or visit the
Make A Difference Day web site.
Colgate Youth For America
How about doing something terrific for your community and
winning a monetary grant for your 4-H club? The Colgate Youth for America
campaign provides monetary grants up to $1,000 to members of the six partnering
organizations: 4-H, Boy Scouts of America, Girls Scouts of the USA, Boys and
Girls Clubs of America, Camp Fire, and Girls Incorporated. Colgate will award
the monetary grants to the projects that are the most innovative and successful.
For more information and for an entry form, visit the
Colgate web site.
Bayer / NSF Award
The Bayer/NSF Award for Community Innovation – It’s exclusively
for students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades – in public or private schools,
home schools and youth organizations. Four students working as a team put their
heads together to identify a problem in your community, look into it, come up
with an innovative solution, refine their ideas . . . and have fun doing it!
This is science at its best – with real rewards. Your team will compete for . .
.
-
An all-expense-paid, one-week trip to Epcot® at
the Walt Disney World® Resort for Finals Week.
-
The $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant
to develop their idea in their community.
-
$36,000 in savings bonds for student team
members.
For your free guide which includes entry forms, contest rules,
tips for coaching your team, names and phone numbers for regional coordinators –
everything you need to get started – call 1-800-291-6020. There is no cost to
enter. The entry deadline is January 31.
Youth in Action Awards
The Youth in Action Campaign is an effort to improve citizenship
and engage young America to improve our communities and our nation and to
receive recognition in the form of $1,000 awards and $100 honorable mention
awards. More information on the Campaign can be found on the
Youthling.org web site. Click on the Youth Action Guide as it contains
information on how to apply.
Safe Night USA
Join the national effort to give youth a safe place to go for a
fun night out. Communities are being encouraged to participate by organizing
their own Safe Night event. A neighborhood Safe Night is exactly what it sounds
like: a party in a safe place that’s close to home. The goals of the event are –
to build neighborhood commitment to providing safe and fun activities for youth;
to reduce neighborhood problems with youth crime, drug and alcohol issues; and
to provide a fun, low-cost (or free) alternative to youth who may have little
access to safe entertainment options.
Daily Points of Light Award
The Daily Points of Light Awards program, instituted during the
Bush Administration, is a high profile, highly respected and extremely popular
program that celebrates a broad cross section of America’s volunteers. The
awards honor volunteers and organizations that demonstrate unique and innovative
approaches to community volunteering and citizen action, with a strong emphasis
on service focused on the goals for children and youth set by the Presidents’
Summit for American’s Future. This award will celebrate efforts that exemplify
the spirit of service as well as inspire other individuals to action by the
telling of stories of ordinary individuals performing extraordinary acts of
service.
The award will be given five times a week, including holidays.
Information about the Daily Points of Light Award recipient and their commitment
to service can be found on the
Points of
Light Foundations'
web site. Nominations will be accepted throughout the year, but the
regular selection period will be quarterly, with deadlines February 28, May 1,
August 1 and November 1.
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
4-H members who are volunteering their time and talents to
improve their communities are encouraged to apply for the annual Prudential
Spirit of Community Awards. These awards honor young people in grades 5-12 who,
by performing volunteer service in the past year, have helped to make their
communities better places to live. This award provides an opportunity for young
people to be recognized for volunteer community service. State winners receive
$1,000, a silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. Five
national winners receive an additional $5,000, a gold medallion and a crystal
trophy for his or her nominating organization. The application is available on
the Internet at
Prudential
or
The National
Association of Secondary School Principals or by calling (800) 843-7625,
ext. 1143.
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