Pledging My Head, Heart, Hands, and Health in 4-H by Catherine

Pledging My Head, Heart, Hands, and Health in 4-H by Catherine - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

My 4-H experience has tremendously impacted my life. I have been active in 4-h since I was a Cloverbud in Kindergarten. 4-H has helped me grow in joyful commitment to serving the less fortunate.
As a Cloverbud, I remember collecting and donating shoes for poor people in Haiti. As a middle schooler, I remember leading 4-H project sessions teaching adults, children, and entire families on how to create fleece blankets, which we donate to Project Linus. To date, I have overseen the creation and donation of over 100 fleece blankets.
Four years ago, I learned at a 4-H club meeting how to fill gallon-sized, plastic bags with necessities such as a pair of socks, shampoo, conditioner, bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, wash cloth, feminine hygiene products, and granola bars assisting a homeless man or woman to get by another day. I began creating these bags on my own a few at a time.
My blessing bag project caught the attention of a local news channel, Valley News Live. In August 2017, a reporter came to my home and interviewed me which resulted in thousands of viewers being exposed to the plight of the needy.
In February 2018, I decided to forge ahead with really making an impact by promoting a blessing bag movement. The concept of the movement was to assemble 500 blessing bags to ease the hardship experienced by the homeless, place the bags in the hands of many homeless people, and furthermore, shine a light on the homeless population by teaching ordinary citizens that they, too, can help the homeless.
To gather items for the 500 blessing bags, I developed and mailed 45 letters to manufacturers, dental offices, hotels, and stores requesting product donation. I wrote and submitted four grants, conducted sock drives in my school and area churches, and spoke to four community organizations requesting financial support. The blessing bag movement was one hundred percent supported by grants, product donations, and contributions from community organizations. My 4-H leaders who knew of my project also began sending me donations.
I led eight project sessions on how to create and distribute blessing bags with various groups of people such as at 4-H events and as a 4-H Youth-In-Action demonstration at the Minnesota State Fair. After successfully reaching the goal of 500 bags, my county 4-H leader encouraged me to teach students from a nearby elementary after school program who assembled another 50 bags. I shared with my audiences the needs of the homeless, suggested various other ways to help the homeless, and outlined reasons why we should help the poor.
Adults and families were able to take away blessing bags from the presentations and distribute in their communities. Everyone was encouraged to continue making bags on their own. My audience participants were able to leave the project with an instruction paper detailing how to expand the blessing bag movement with a sample letter to send to companies and a step by step process on how to carry out the project. All of the remaining blessing bags have been donated to shelters, social services offices, churches, and food shelves across Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin as well as directly handed to people on the street.
As I have aged in the 4-H program, opportunities to serve as a camp counselor have arisen. To date, I have served at three overnight camps and several day camps not only carrying out programs but also engaging young campers in hands-on learning.
In June 2018, I was selected as a 4-H Minnesota representation to attend 4-H Citizenship Washington Focus, a weeklong learning hands-on experience in Washington D.C.
I have entered exhibits at the county fair for the last twelve years and earned a Minnesota State Fair trip each year since eligible in sixth grade. I have grown in my public speaking skills in addition to exploring science, arts, dance, and home economics. My highlighted projects have included learning more on a global level about other cultures and ways that I can help improve our world.
I am so thankful for my experience in 4-H. It truly sparked my passion for helping the poor. I plan to study global ministry in college. My career goal is to oversee a Christian-based non-profit serving the less fortunate globally.