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4-H Foundation

Inspire Kids to Do

For Olivia Heard, life before 4-H was insulated. But Heard was determined to come out of her shell. That’s when she joined her local 4-H group.

The Prince William County teen opened up and pushed herself to be more engaged, even when it didn’t go as planned. She ran for State Cabinet twice, but didn’t land the position. Still Heard persevered, determined to be actively involved in 4-H. “I just kept looking at the big picture that I can still help in my own ways in 4-H without being in cabinet,” Heard said. Heard’s determination was noticed: this year, she was selected to represent Virginia 4-H at the upcoming National 4-H Congress.

The 17-year-old graduated high school early and now helps Prince William County elementary and middle school students with their schoolwork and plans to teach after-school fencing classes this fall. She’s applying to be a 4-H camp staffer and continuing to exploring her interests and her passion for volunteering.

“I want to try and help out people the way 4-H has helped me,” Heard said.

Help more young people like Olivia, by supporting 4-H today!

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Olivia Heard

More than 192,000 Virginia 4-H members are developing caring relationships, learning leadership and life skills, and providing service to others and their communities. The skills learned through 4-H help young people become competent, caring, and contributing citizens. Increased financial support is necessary to maintain and enhance the quality of the educational programs for which 4-H is known. You can make a difference by contributing to Virginia 4-H through the Virginia 4-H Foundation. The Virginia 4-H Foundation is a division of the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc. which has been granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status by the Internal Revenue Service.

Funds are raised to support a number of areas:  

  • Member Recognition — Recognition is provided to 4-H members for outstanding achievements.
  • Scholarships — Scholarships are provided for youth, adult volunteers, and Extension agents based on need, innovation, and achievement.
  • Leadership Development — The development of leaders, both teens and adults, is the cornerstone of 4-H.
  • Program Enhancement — Virginia 4-H must continually enhance and add high quality educational programs to keep up with the needs of youth and communities.
  • Endowment Programs — Endowments are established to support specific projects, county 4-H programs, and the Virginia 4-H Program.

You can donate to Virginia 4-H in a variety of ways, including current gifts such as cash, property, corporate matching, and securities or planned gifts such as life insurance, will/bequests, memorials, and charitable trusts/annuities. Many large gifts require careful planning. The Virginia 4-H Foundation welcomes the opportunity to work with you as you plan your support of 4-H.

Special Notice

Scholarships earned through State Fair competitions in 2012 and earlier are held in an account at the Virginia Tech Foundation. Students with scholarship earnings from 2012 and earlier will receive an annual statement from that account and will submit a request to the Virginia Tech Foundation for disbursal of funds. Therefore, a student who earned scholarships both before and after the 2012 State Fair will request scholarship funds from two organizations.

Any scholarships earned after 2012 are being managed by the State Fair of Virginia. Please visit the State Fair of Virginia website for general information. If you have questions regarding the State Fair Scholarship Program or procedures for awards after 2012, please contact Glenn Martin at 804-994-2858 or Stuart Sanders at 804-994-2743.

2013 4-H Innovative Programming Awards

The Virginia 4-H Foundation Innovative Programming Awards are awarded on a competitive basis to 10 4-H faculty members. Each awardee receives $1,000 to develop and implement innovative 4-H programming efforts.

In addition, the selected faculty members will be assigned an iPad. Previous winners will receive handheld projectors to use with the iPad.  It is expected that iPad technology will be incorporated into the proposed innovative program.

2013 Innovative Programming Award Winners
Beth Hawse Rockbridge County Trout in the Classroom
Karen Baker Hampton Hampton 4-H Leadership Institute
Tara Brent and Wendy Herdman   Clovers to College
Adam Ford Pittsylvania County Tracking Our Impacts
Billie Jean Elmer Surry County Surry Elementary School Gardening Project
Bethany Eigel Chesterfield County Master 4-H Volunteer Program
Crystal Peek Washington County 4-H Keyboarding for Kids
Jennifer Bowen and Ruth Wallace Prince Edward and Buckingham  4-H Film-Making
Thomas Woodson Amelia County STEM in the Gym
Tyler Painter  Floyd County Floyd County Communications Club
Lynette Kelly Newport News Seeds of Change: Gardening of Infinite Possibilities Project


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Contact Us

For more information on how you can support the Virginia 4-H program, please contact:

Vernon Meacham
Chief Advancement Officer
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
131 Smyth Hall (0402)
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(540) 231-3071
vmeacham@vt.edu

Crystal Graham
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Development Administrator
133 Smyth Hall (0402)
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
(540) 231-3360
csgraham@vt.edu