Print This Page4-H Volunteer Recognition Program
Monsanto Helps Fund 4-H Volunteer Recognition Program
The projects are as varied as the kids who take them on. Raising lettuce in a rooftop hydroponics garden in the Bronx. A young Hispanic in Nebraska working on an Internet tutorial program for the elderly. A cowboy in Oklahoma raising pigs and chickens.
These are just a few of the projects tackled by 4-H members across the United States. More than likely, these endeavors would still be dreams for many members were it not for the dedication of volunteers. Through its "Salute to Excellence" recognition effort, 4-H will honor its top volunteers across the nation.
Monsanto is a premier corporate sponsor of the Salute to Excellence program. Monsanto's contribution is supported by funds received through settlements involving seed stewardship violations. This provides a way for Monsanto to return these monies to those who work hard for agriculture.
Donald T. Floyd, Jr. President and CEO, National 4-H Council
E. Cherrie Ruesch, Volunteer of the Year, AK
Patricia Bosley, Lifetime Volunteer of the Year, FL
Jim Tobin, Monsanto
"Our customers tend to be in the same markets where 4-H is an important part of youth development," explained Jim Tobin, Channeling, Renessen and Value Capture lead in Global Product Management and the Monsanto corporate liaison with 4-H. "Many of our customers have children who are involved in 4-H and many of our customers are volunteer 4-H leaders. So recognizing and supporting the 4-H youth development program is an appropriate form of stewardship," he said.
Don Floyd, president of the National 4-H Council, described volunteers as the "heart and soul" of 4-H. More than 600,000 work on a daily basis with young people to give them the skills they need to work independently, he explained.
When asked why people are so willing to volunteer in an age when people's time is at a premium, Floyd said, "I think 4-H is about down-home values and the importance of responsibility, hard work and good ethics. One of the reasons you find very busy people wanting to volunteer in organizations like 4-H is the sense that we've got to make sure the country doesn't't lose its sense of values and the things that make us different. One of those is you give back to the community."
The organization still reflects many of the same principles and practices that were common to 4-H a hundred years ago, such as a focus on agriculture. However, Floyd noted that as society has moved to more urban and suburban areas, 4-H has had to adapt. Hence, projects like the rooftop city garden are becoming more commonplace. Today, 35 percent of 4-H members are in cities and about 33 percent are from nonwhite populations.
Still, Floyd described 4-H as the "dominant, most extensive youth organization in rural America," with one in every two young people in rural America participating in 4-H.
The organization also has an international presence. For more than 50 years, 4-H has had an international exchange program where thousands of youth from around the world have lived in each other's countries, usually to work in a rural setting, Tobin said. When he was just out of college in the summer of 1978, Tobin went on an exchange to the Soviet Union where he lived and worked on farms in Belorussia and Ukraine. He learned the language and worked in agriculture. At the same time, two Soviet farmers stayed with Tobin's parents in Iowa for a similar experience.
"The Cold War was at its height at that time," Tobin remembered. "I think it did a lot for the people I met and the people I talked to when I came back home to understand that people are very similar the world over. I'm a real strong believer in the youth exchange program because it gives youth a broader view of the world at an early age when they can still make a difference in how others think."
Tobin encouraged Monsanto people to get involved in 4-H. Recently, more than 500 employees responded to an internal survey that tracked their prior involvement in 4-H and their interest in being involved again.
