The club builds itself on giving back to the community. Each year, members engage in a multitude of community service projects from filling up Easter baskets for Children Services to taking their animals into nursing homes. In 2019 alone, the club advisors and members gave 504 hours to community service which involved all 45 members and eight volunteers.

Each community service project the club completed has a lasting impact on the people and community they are serving. Whether it is raising money to assist families in need of medical assistance for their children or helping children in the children services system feel loved and comforted, this club has truly made a large impact on the community. 

But the impact that this club has made on their youth members is even bigger. The Country Kids and Kritters youth have been given the opportunity to address a problem they see within their community and then brain storm together to decide how to solve that problem. They are then given the chance to put their solutions into action to see how their decision making impacts others. They are learning the importance of giving back to their community a skill that will serve them their entire lives.

This impact is best describe by their club president Nicole D’Angelo.

Members of the Country Kids and Kritters 4-H Club participate in a community service project. (Submitted photo)

“When our club members hear the word ‘service,’ their thought process is ‘how we can help,’ she said. “The definition of service is ‘the action of helping or doing work for someone.’ The members of our club do not recognize service as work but as volunteering, providing a need, or giving back to our community. We have a club that has the most giving hearts and they embrace being able to help those in need.”

Members of the Country Kids and Kritters 4-H Club participate in a community service project. (Submitted photo)

Members of the Country Kids and Kritters 4-H Club participate in a community service project. (Submitted photo)