South Country joins Co-op initiative to promote lifelong benefits of 4-H

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on September 21, 2024.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

South County Co-op has joined the new Co-op Growing Leaders program, which funds new 4-H Alberta members.

This program is in partnership with Alberta Co-ops, and while new to South Country, is currently in its third year of funding, with 13 Co-ops collaboratively fulfilling the $50,000 Gold Clover 4-H Alberta Sponsorship level for the 2024-2025 program year.

The program aims to remove barriers and provide easy access for youth who may have been curious about 4-H Alberta, but have never enrolled in a local club, and has been successful thus far, with 204 new 4-H members joining through the program in its inaugural year.

We were thrilled to see so much success during the Growing Leaders Program’s pilot year and are proud to continue this partnership,” said Kinnear, CEO of 4-H Alberta. “This ‘out of the box’ initiative has helped 209 new members experience the 4-H Alberta youth program, giving them an opportunity to grow their leadership and life skills, make lifelong friends and have a lot of fun in the process. We appreciate FCL and the growing number of participating Co-ops; they are like-minded community partners who value and support Alberta’s youth as much as we do.”

Kinnear expressed that Federated Co-operatives Ltd. and the participating Co-ops understand and appreciate the importance of these young members, who will become the future leaders in their communities.

The Co-op Growing Leaders program will cover all age ranges from Cleaver to Seniors, and cover membership fees for the new participants, both provincial registration fees and local club fees, for up to $200 for new members.

The program is open to anyone who has not been previously been involved with 4-H within the South Country Co-op trading area.

Families and youth interested in the program can apply online through the South Country Co-op’s website at southcountrycoop.crs, or by contacting j.prior@sccoop.ca.

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