September 2017 Club of the Month
This month we would like to congratulate the Coal Chute Kids 4-H Club for being awarded the Nebraska 4-H Club of the Month for September 2017. This Club from Kearney, in Buffalo County, has truly made a difference in its community. The club is dedicated to building strong citizenship and teamwork through various activities.
The eleven-member club focuses on learning about and practicing citizenship. They elected a full slate of officers to conduct their meetings and to form committees to carry out the club’s work. Parliamentary procedure is used in each meeting. This year they focused on motions and using proper wording when making a motion. The members say the 4-H Pledge and the Pledge to the Flag at each meeting. Two members act as flag bearers.
This year the club did projects that served others and also did a project to thank local policemen and women and firefighters for their service to the community. In March members made plates of delicious cookies to take to the police station and fire department. They also made door decorations and took them to residents of St. Luke’s care center. While we were decorating the care center staff brought the residents to the community room where they watched us conduct our meeting.
A project quickly organized by a member and her mother was to help the community’s new Help Care Clinic collect shoes for a recycling fundraiser. A total of 6,649 pounds of shoes were collected from donations by citizens of Buffalo and Kearney Counties. The Help Care Clinic provides health services to uninsured individuals who are at poverty level in the two counties.
The club takes its turn working in the 4-H Snack Shack at the fair and it hosts the static exhibit building. Two club members and their families helped pick up and store the flags displayed at the cemetery on Memorial Day. Another member is making three quilt tops for a community Quilts of Valor project. The goal is to make 150 completed quilts that will be presented to veterans experiencing medical problems due to their military service.
The Nebraska 4-H Foundation provides the 4-H Club of the Month program to all Nebraska 4-H clubs throughout the state. Clubs can nominate themselves by telling why their club should be chosen as Club of the Month. A different club will be chosen each month and will be awarded with a certificate and $50 cash card. For more information go to the Nebraska 4-H Foundation website at https://ne4hfoundation.org/recognition or e-mail ne4hclubofthemonth@gmail.com.
