4-H club completes Community Pride project
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 06/03/2010 9:24 AM
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PINE ISLAND, Minn. — The New Haven Sodbusters 4-H club wrapped up a Community Pride project six months in the making earlier this month with the donation of personal care supplies to Pine Island Sharing Shelves.
The 4-H club members donated 75 bags of personal care items to the food shelf, each prepared especially for the family or individual identified only as a number. There were colored Band-Aids in the bag for the family of seven, along with pink and black razors, shaving cream, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, soap, toothbrushes and hair accessories for the little girls. For the single man, there were razors, shaving cream, Band-Aids, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner.
A big box filled with toilet paper was also donated.
"We always use a lot of nonfood items," said Dave Sween, manager of Pine Island Sharing Shelves. "They're a very popular thing for people to get."
The food shelf goes through a lot of toilet paper, toothpaste and soap, Sween said. The 4-H club donation will save the food shelf from having to buy the products for a while.
All the personal care bags will be delivered to their intended user within three weeks, Sween said.
The 4-H club members learned more about their community by doing the project.
"It shows how fortunate we are," said Ryan Kohlmeyer, a 4-H club member.
It also shows that individuals can make a difference, said 4-H'er Andy Bogard.
New Haven Sodbusters 4-H Club members participate in several one-day Community Pride events, events that are intended to show their pride in their community, including Adopt-A-Highway, Toys for Tots, Christmas caroling, Cookie Sunday at Pine Haven Care Center, Cancer Telethon Bake Sale, Parkway Beautification and wrapping presents for the L.O.V.E. project, said 4-H club volunteer Jan McNallan. Those events tend to be one-time events, where this project took several months and involved the entire club.
New Haven Sodbusters 4-H youth leader Ben Bogard and McNallan approached the club in November and asked for their support of the "Handing off Health: Personal Care Bags" project.
"They said Ben and Jan go do your work," McNallan said.
Bogard and McNallan got to work writing a grant application to the Minnesota 4-H Foundation, which was due Feb. 1. Bogard, a youth leader, needed to write the letter of intent, McNallan said.
The Minnesota 4-H Foundation awarded the project $300, but the grant requires matching contributions. Each family in the 4-H club donated toothpaste and toilet paper. Seven families donated baskets to be auctioned to raise money at the February 4-H club meeting. The other families purchased the baskets, which raised $185. The club gave another $50 donation.
Dentists Robyn Loewen and Joseph Reeve of Rochester and Joel Swan of Pine Island donated toothbrushes. The Pine Island Market gave a discount on shampoo and conditioners. Hy-Vee and Sam's Club also gave a donation. They also received an anonymous donation.
In total, the club had $750 to spend. Three families shopped for the items and the entire club assembled the bags May 2 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Pine Island. Each bag had a 4-H sticker.
Sween said he will post a sign at the Sharing Shelves so the visitors know where the personal care products came from.
"It's just very, very good to have groups, especially youth groups, do things for the community," Sween said. "We appreciate anything from everyone, but I think I really like the youth group involvement."
It's good for society to have youth involved in projects such as this, Sween said.
It was fun to see the club members get excited about the project, McNallan said.
The club has 25 families and about 50 members, said 4-H club leader Sally Kohlmeyer. It's one of the largest 4-H clubs in Olmsted County.
Ben Bogard said it's rewarding to see the bags delivered and the project completed.
The 4-H club has enough additional personal care products to make donations to Hiawatha Homes in Oronoco and the food shelf in Oronoco.
Pine Island Sharing Shelves serves residents in the Pine Island School District. About 40 households a week use the food shelf, up from 15 families a week in 2004. The food shelf distributes 1.5 to 2 tons of food per month, Sween said.