Hike in membership key goal for 4-H

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Carrie Tapp, president of the 4-H Manitoba Council, presents the 100-year history of 4-H in Manitoba and Canada on the last day of the Manitoba Ag Days at the Keystone Centre in Brandon on Thursday. (GRAEME BRUCE/BRANDON SUN)

Celebrating its centennial, 4-H in Manitoba will push hard to bolster its declining membership.

In Manitoba, the birthplace of the rural-based youth club, there are about 2,300 members and just under 1,000 leaders.

"The program has been declining a little bit, same as every youth organization and a lot of rural organizations, it’s typical across the country, it’s not just a Manitoba thing," said 4-H Manitoba Council executive director Clayton Robins.

Robins estimates the membership has declined about five per cent annually for 10 years.

New to the job, he is looking to piggy-back on the 100th anniversary celebrations to drive up membership while partnering up with other youth organizations.

"I see 4-H as having a really, really great road ahead of it, we’ve got some great opportunities at becoming more involved in urban communities," he said. "It’s perceived that if you haven’t got livestock, you can’t be in 4-H and that’s a misconception we have to get around."

While dispelling such misconceptions, reaching out to youth in cities will be key to the growth of the youth development organization, Robins said.

"Most of our projects have nothing to do with livestock, but they are still rural and trade-based skills and they are applicable in an urban setting."

4-H Manitoba Council president Carrie Tapp spoke about her 20 years in the program during the final day of Manitoba Ag Days at the Keystone Centre, barely mentioning livestock and focusing on her community service, such as highway cleanup, marching skills and exchange programs within Canada and overseas.

"It taught me about big goals and how to achieve them," the now-high school math teacher told the audience.

With one foot in the agricultural roots of the program, Robins believes the next step will be to broaden the initiatives of 4-H to include things such as First Nation 4-H clubs and the Future Leaders in Action program for ages 22-25 — those members who typically drop out of 4-H before attending post-secondary school in cities.

"We’re looking at a new style of club completely all together that’s not traditional, it’s going to be based purely on professional development opportunities," Robins said. "The Future Leaders Club opens up a whole new set of possibilities. We’re hoping to provide a very valuable experience to those members in university."

Robins said the goal will be to double membership by 2021.

The ongoing centennial celebrations this year include the $100 for 100 years fundraising project for long-term support in Canada, which launched yesterday in Manitoba.

"You can donate $100 and you decide where it’s going to go, if you want some of it to go Manitoba, some of it to go to National, we’d love to take your $100 bill," Tapp said.

The national gala celebration will be in Winnipeg at the end of May, and 4-H has partnered with Food Banks Canada to collect and tally all items collected by 4-H clubs for local food banks in 2013.

For a full list of the various 100th year celebrations and projects, and to donate visit 4-h-canada.ca.

» gbruce@brandonsun.com

Changes since inception:

1913-1923

• 472 members raising poultry, potatoes and feed

• Age range to 10-18

1923-1933

• First single-project clubs were formed, including grain, beef, dairy and sheep

• First appearance of the 4-H clover logo

1933-1943

• Beef projects increased

• Swine club membership peaked in 1941

1943-1953

• Manitoba 4-H Council first formed

• "4-H" was officially adopted to replace the "Boys and Girls Club"

• Age of membership eligibility was 10-21 years old

1953-1963

• Organization expanded into the trades, including projects that focused on welding, woodworking, automotive and work

1963-1973

• Age limit lowered from 21 to 19, minimum age lowered from 10 to nine

• Conservation projects started

1973-1983

• First provincial equine show

• Ambassadors formed in 1979 to bridge gap between membership and leadership

1983-1993

• Highway cleanup campaign started in 1987

• 4-H museum officially opened in Roland

• First proclamation of

"4-H Week" in 1990

1993-2003

• Minimum age of membership lowered from nine years old to eight; ages of membership eight-19

2003-2013

• Age limit increased from 19 to 21

• New provincial logo and brand guide unveiled in 2010

• "Embrace the Future" strategic plan launched in 2011

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition January 18, 2013