Heart of 4-H Award
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Heart of 4-H Award Winners July - December 2009
December: Mindy Leach. When Mindy finished her last year as a 4-H member about four years ago, she became co-leader of the Ropes & Riggins 4-H Club. Her mother Natalie Leach is also co-leader. Mindy has been a main clinician at horse showmanship clinics and she has helped at group level testings.
Renee Heusinger, on behalf of Ropes & Riggins, nominated Mindy for the award, writing, “She continually gives of herself and her time. She is selfless, positive, always encouraging, kind and very knowledgeable.”
Mindy says, “4-H is a great opportunity to get involved with local youth and help them learn about riding and showing horses. The 4-H program is excellent and is something I am proud to be involved with. My favorite experience as a 4-H volunteer is watching the members of my club learn lessons that will not only help them in their horse shows, but also in all aspects of life. I really enjoy being there to help them and have fun with them.”
Mindy is a student at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and president of the UNL Equestrian Team. In 2007, she was an intern for Extension Horse Specialist Kathy Anderson and Mindy helped organize the statewide 4-H Horse Stampede.
November: Danetta Jensen. Danetta has been a parent volunteer for seven years. She is now leader of the newly reorganized Star City Llama & Alpaca 4-H club, which she helped rebuild. While the 4-H Llama show at the Lancaster County Fair was on hiatus for two years, Danetta helped present llama demonstrations. Last year, she was a superintendent of the returned and expanded 4-H Llama/Alpaca show at the county fair. (Alpacas are a recent addition to the club and county fair show.) Danetta and members of the club helped at the recent 4-H Kick Off.
“I enjoy working with the youth and watching their confidence in themselves grow as they achieve their goals,” she says. “I enjoy watching the excitement of the 4-H’ers when their animal accepts an obstacle and maneuvers it willingly.”
Danetta is a board member for the Nebraska Llama Association and she has been an assistant Girl Scout leader for six years.
October: Jennifer Cusick-Rawlinson. Jennifer was nominated for the award by Susan Frobish, who wrote, “She is very involved in 4-H Council, Horse VIPS and Esprit de Corps 4-H Club. She is very knowledgeable, caring, dedicated and extremely committed to youth!”
Jennifer has volunteered with 4-H for nearly five years and has helped with the Lincoln Broomtails (a horseless horse club) and Esprit de Corps (a horse club). She serves on 4-H Council and on the Horse VIPS Committee (she is currently chairman of fundraising). Her daughter, Kate, is active in the 4-H horse program.
She says “I like being a 4-H volunteer because the kids love 4-H programs and volunteers are necessary to continue offering the programs. I just love watching the kids succeed and grow! We’ve also loved meeting so many nice 4-H families through the programs.”
September: Pat and Kim Wiseman. Pat began volunteering for 4-H about 49 years ago as a club leader. Her daughter, Kim was active in 4-H at the time. In the 1970s, Kim assisted in writing environmental curriculum for 4-H. Both have continued to help with various 4-H activities to this day. Since 2003, they have been superintendents of the Lancaster County Fair 4-H General Areas (which includes posters, banners, Consumer Management, Citizenship, Entomology and more). Previously they assisted with county fair 4-H Home Environment.
Pat and Kim also help at the Nebraska State Fair in the 4-H Home Environment, Horticulture and Food areas. They recently participated in a state 4-H Web site development focus group.
For many years, they have volunteered with the annual earth wellness festival for 5th graders.
August: Deb Badeer. Deb has been a 4-H volunteer for 20 years and has helped with the Home School Express club (which had nearly 150 members) and Clover Buds club, and is currently leader of the High Flyers club. When Nebraska 4-H started the Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest, Deb wrote introductory materials and for many years coached youth on PSAs and speeches at workshops and club meetings. In 1995, Deb wrote and produced a promotional video for 4-H Clover Buds (now called Clover Kids). As part of the Citizenship - Public Adventures 4-H project, she takes youth to the State Capitol to meet Senators, learn the legislative process, learn to speak out on issues/lobby and observe legislative debate. She has also volunteered in several 4-H areas at the Lancaster County Fair.
“I strongly believe in the educational benefit of ‘learning by doing,’” says Deb. “4-H is an excellent way of enriching a child’s life and education while building closer relationships with them. They also ‘master’ the material they are learning by putting it to use while completing projects and receiving input and rewards at the fair. My favorite experience as a 4-H volunteer was showing students they could write and speak before an audience. To see the light in their eyes and joy at their new found skill is truly rewarding.”
Her clubs have put in many community service hours singing and performing at nursing homes.
July: Linda Meyer. Linda has been organizational leader of the Rokeby Dairy 4-H club for 10 years (her husband Ron is a co-leader). They present 4-H judging practices and workshops pertaining to dairy cattle, poultry and rabbits. The couple also hosts 4-H farm tours and nature tours. For several years, Linda has also been Saline County 4-H volunteer, serving as a project leader and 4-H Council member.
“I was a third generation 4-H’er,” says Linda. “I have reaped the many benefits of being involved in the 4-H program and I enjoy sharing my life experiences with others while helping them gain new skills and create positive experiences of their own. My favorite experiences is helping others and watching their faces lights up after a job well done or after learning a new skill. I’m also amazed at the lifelong friends that are made through 4-H. Many great memories are created.”
Linda also volunteers with Ag Awareness Festival, FFA, Ag in the Classroom, Farm Safety Day camp and the American Dairy Association/Dairy Council.
Contact Information
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County
444 Cherrycreek Road, Ste A
Lincoln, NE 68528 | http://lancaster.unl.edu
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