4-H Volunteers! Insights & Inspiration

Guest: Tammy Hill - Crowned Princess

Involved since 1996

Napa County 4-H 

Tammy has been involved as an adult volunteer in the Napa County 4-H and 4-H Camp programs since 1996 and was the Advisor/Director for the Napa County 4-H Camp Program from 2002 through 2023. Tammy was the recipient of the California State 4-H 2018 Golden Clover Award for Outdoor Adventures. She received the Napa County 4-H Golden Clover award for her work with the Napa County 4-H Camp Program in October, 2022 and in July, 2023 she received the Napa County Lifetime Achievement Award for her work with the Napa County 4-H Camp program.  Additionally, she is a member of the California 4-H State Camping Advisory Committee. She has served on the Napa County 4-H Council holding the positions of President and Treasurer and has served as the Vice Chair of the Napa County 4-H Management Board and currently is the Recognition and Achievement Chair.

Takeaways

Advice for Volunteers

Don’t try to do it all on your own; reach out and delegate and, importantly, give ownership to other people and allow others to take charge. When you allow other people to lead, great new ideas that you wouldn’t have thought about come up. Everything you do is an opportunity to improve. 

Advice for someone trying to revamp or energize a camp

Attend Camp Conference, where experienced people come together to lead different learning tracks: administrative, STEM, etc. to learn about how to energize 4-H camps, which have struggled since the pandemic. With great curricula, camps can be fun and also educational. 

Start early and work closely with the county office when trying to change anything up, like location, because staff, who are 100% on the side of the campers and volunteers, have policies and guidelines to deal with. 

Biggest Challenge

Getting adult volunteers to come to camp to spend a week is a big challenge. To remedy this, we send youth out to clubs to recruit adult volunteers by sharing how important camp is. 

Source of Inspiration

Over so many years there are many inspirational stories from camp. Teachable moments that come to fruition are some of the best ones. When you see youth grow. It’s inspirational to see how great the teens are when they are given responsibility. It’s the experiences with children with special needs that have been the most inspirational; when you see other teens respond with empathy and support for those who need a bit more of it. I became not just a better leader but a better person because of them. 

Resources & Links

Show Notes Chelsea Dirks

Takeaways

One thing you wish you knew earlier?

Change can be tough, and even though sometimes there will be resistance at first, people come around to embrace good new ideas.

Advice for new or tired volunteers? Find the person in your club who likes new ideas and excitement and buddy up with them and say “Let’s try this!”

Where do you get your great ideas?

Following other 4-H clubs on Facebook, reading the county newsletter, and following the links to the state 4-H resources. I also get ideas from the local elementary school.

Your biggest inspiration for volunteering?

The kids! Believing that I could get kids more involved than they were and get them excited about learning new things. I’m not the best, you’re not the best, he’s not the best, but we can be better tomorrow than we were yesterday!

Resources and Links

Show Notes

Podcast Guest: Jemetha Clark Cosgrove

Location of club: Sonoma County

Number of years as a volunteer: 4

Takeaways, summarized

One thing you wish you knew earlier?

You don’t have to be the expert to be the volunteer. A leader can learn with the youth they’re leading.

“Sometimes, depending on your background, you can see [the kids] start to get ahead of you, and that's great, because they're learning to teach themselves and learning how to find their own resources and can continue to grow, which I think for kids nowadays is more important than ever.”

Advice for new or tired volunteers?

If you really see a need for something, don’t be afraid to chart that path. Keep the Maker collaborative idea front and center.

The biggest challenge that you face as a 4-H volunteer?

Knowing when to take a back seat and let teens work in teams and drive a project so they stay engaged.

Your biggest inspiration for volunteering?

It provides an opportunity to integrate creativity, technology, learning, collaborating, sharing, and inspiring other adults and young people. Also, I see that kids need access to technical learning and need to learn about agriculture, and I want to contribute whatever I can towards that.

Resources & Links

Today’s Guest  Lynn Scales 

Name of 4-H club: Shingle Springers 

Location of club: Shingle Springs, CA 

Number of years as a volunteer: 10 

Takeaways, summarized 

One thing you wish you knew earlier?  

Volunteering is not nearly as hard as you think it will be.  

Advice for new or tired volunteers?  

Don’t forget about the 4-H office for ideas, inspiration, and resources. 

The project that you were most afraid of and ended up loving the most?  

Vet science. (They dissected sheep eyeballs!)  

Recognizing that 4-H is supposed to be a low-cost-no-cost program, how did you raise money for project supplies?  

Small parent cash donations, and connecting with parents who were experts and professionals.  

Your biggest inspiration for volunteering?  

The growth I have seen in my kids.   

Resources & Links 

Guest: Dustin Blakey

Location of Club: Inyo County

Takeaways

Advice for volunteers

Be excited. Make it easy for the kids to participate. You don't have to do it all!

Biggest Challenge

We really have a struggle getting other volunteers to help and the volunteers we have don’t ask for enough help from other parents or even staff.

Biggest Source of Inspiration

It's always exciting to see the kids, you know, get older and be successful. You know you’ve done something to make someone’s life a little better.

Resources & Links