Megan Thorson, 4-H Facts

As a 4-H program coordinator, I get asked a lot of questions about 4-H.

Many of the questions have to do with how 4-H has changed over the years.

Many former 4-H parents and families are always wondering what 4-H looks like now compared to when they were in 4-H. 4-H demographics have changed over the years, especially since the 1970s when 4-H membership peaked and there were over 7.5 million members nationwide.

4-H started way back in 1914 where the majority of the kids were white farm kids.

Enrollment was only at 116,000 nationwide. Most of the clubs were gender based clubs having specific project areas such as the corn clubs or sewing clubs.

In the &8217;70s enrollment did peak at 7.5 million. Thirty-two percent of these 4-H members still came off the farm, but a big increase in the number of kids that were from the rural non-farm (40 percent). The remainder of the youth came from towns and cities. At this point 4-H also started to include different ethnicities and more project areas besides the animals, foods and clothing projects.

Since the &8217;70s, 4-H has changed even more. Nationwide, there are over 6.5 million 4-H members. Only 11 percent of these members actually live on the farm; 34 percent live on rural non-farm, 21 percent towns and cities, 9 percent in suburbs and cities, and 25 percent in central cities over 50,000.

Seventy-six percent of members are still white Caucasians, but 10 percent of all members have Hispanic ethnicity, and 13 percent are black. More projects are being added every year to accommodate the changing demographics of 4-H members. A few of these new projects areas are geo-spatial, robotics and llamas.

Minnesota 4-H is still more rural based with 18 percent of all members still coming off the farm and 32 percent coming from rural non-farm.

Minnesota 4-H membership is holding steady at around 150,000 members.

4-H is also looking at new venues to get more youth involved with the 4-H programs. One of these venues is working with youth in an afterschool setting and starting afterschool clubs.

Freeborn County 4-H is still more rural based with over 48.5 percent of all members still coming from the farm, 27.2 percent coming from rural non farm and towns, and 24.3 percent coming from the inside the city of Albert Lea. Currently, Freeborn County has approximately 706 members in the 4-H program with 18 traditional 4-H clubs. 4-H also has after-school programs at the Audubon Science Center, Arc of Freeborn County, Halverson Elementary School, YMCA and the Salvation Army, all located in Albert Lea.

The challenge across the nation is to meet the needs of tomorrow&8217;s youth while still maintaining the historical strengths of the 4-H program. 4-H will continue to remain a vital youth organization as long as it continues to meet the changing times and tries to get programs to meet the needs of all youth. If you want more information on changing demographics in 4-H, check out these Web sites: www.fourh.umn.edu/.

If you are interested in knowing more about joining 4-H, or starting a after-school club,call the Extension office at 377-5660.

Upcoming 4-H events for December include:

Cloverbud Christmas Party

Ambassador Christmas party

New 4-H officer training

After-school clubs.

Megan Thorson is a 4-H program coordinator for Freeborn County.