Cuddling and Care

Madison Johnson, from Selbyville and a 19-year-old University of Delaware student, titled her service project “Threads of Love.” Johnson’s endeavor assisted children in hospitals recovering from premature birth, illness, or surgeries by providing comforting hand-sewn blankets and care packages. Johnson partnered with Project Linus, an organization that collects donated blankets and distributes them to distressed children, to help her distribute the blankets. A member of the Country Clovers 4-H Club, Johnson was able to donate more than 60 blanket care packages. Each care package came with one blanket, toy, book, and words of kindness from 4-H clubs and Project Linus to provide further encouragement. Johnson taught more than 20 of her fellow 4-H members in two different clubs how to sew the blankets. Johnson credits all those who helped her reach her goal. Johnson feels her project was a success that changed the lives of many children in need while raising awareness and educating her peers. Johnson earned her Diamond Clover in the 2023 calendar year.

Preserving Horse History

Abby Mast, a home-schooled 11th grader from Hartley, responded to a community call to save a historic horse ranch when the Beebe family announced its sale. Ultimately, the Beebe Ranch transferred ownership to the Museum of Chincoteague, saving the property from future development but resulting in new challenges for the museum. Inspired by previous fundraising success, Mast’s ambitious project aimed to support the substantial restoration of the ranch faced by its new owners. Through a quilt raffle and additional efforts such as a book drive, Mast raised an impressive $2,779.70—nearly three times her original goal.

The funds that Mast, a nine-year member of the On Target 4-H Club, raised will help the Museum of Chincoteague restore critical features such as a handicap ramp and the barn, ensuring that visitors can experience the ranch as it appeared during the time of Misty of Chincoteague, a pony who lived at the ranch from 1946 to1972 and was the inspiration for several children’s books. Mast’s dedication to preserving this historic site will have a lasting impact on future generations. Mast’s Diamond Clover Award recognizes the vital role she played in the preservation of the historic Beebe Ranch on Chincoteague Island.

Communicating About Pollution

Murphy McCarroll looked to oceans and rivers for her inspiration to make a difference by creating public service announcements or PSAs. “PSAs Against Plastic” addresses the issue of plastic pollution in the environment. Through research, McCarroll found that plastic garbage left on the ground may be swept into a river or the ocean. To help combat this problem, she created public service announcements on how businesses and individuals can help with plastic pollution. Members of her Sunset Branch 4-H Club in Millsboro were featured in the PSAs. McCarroll created versions for television and radio and sent them to local media outlets. WMDT aired a 30-second version of her PSA more than 860 times since May 2024.McCarroll was also interviewed by Delmarva Public Media in August about her project. In addition, McCarroll developed a website https://psasagainstplastic.org/ to educate the public about plastic pollution, PSAs, and data about trash collected at the beach. She has conducted five beach cleanups over the past year at local beaches and collected 1,329 pieces of trash, with the majority being plastic packaging and hang tags. Seeing this, McCarroll asked her club to help donate metal or wooden baskets and scissors for local businesses to keep behind the counter so cashiers can ask customers if they would like the item tags removed. She also created a brochure of suggestions for businesses to help keep the coastline plastic-free and distributed these to many local businesses. McCarroll is a senior home-schooled student. 

Meet the Farmer Who Grows Your Food

Many are surprised to learn that agriculture is Delaware’s largest economic driver. Hollymount 4-H member and Milton resident Declan West wanted to raise awareness and connect people involved in agriculture to interact with younger audiences – students in elementary and middle schools. West’s “Meet the Farmer” service project sought to accomplish this mission. The idea came from attending two separate National 4-H Ag Summits with his sister, Ainsley, a previous Diamond Clover honoree. Together they formed the idea of Meet the Farmer talks. The visits ranged from a shepherd taking a sheep to an elementary school to students meeting a grain farmer and hearing how that farmer plans, grows, cultivates and stores the grain. West soon discovered a menu of topic opportunities. He developed a marketing brochure to promote his program in schools as well as local libraries. He found getting into schools was very challenging. Nevertheless West was able to take his animals to one school multiple times. He also visited his local library for community events. A few other libraries contacted West for future presentations. Word is getting out about this program, and an increasing number of children and adults are becoming more familiar with the importance of agriculture in Delaware. West is a junior at Cape Henlopen High School.

“The Level 6 Diamond Clover project is a true accomplishment as it demonstrates how our 4-H’ers use the leadership, service, and public speaking skills they obtain as a Delaware 4-H member,” said Ernie Lopez, Interim Delaware 4-H State Program Leader. “Each service project is unique to the interests of the 4-H member, and it was a joy to see these three youth take the lead in designing their projects. All of us in the Delaware 4-H community applaud them for their hard work and dedication.”

Johnson, McCarroll and West were honored along with youth members and adult volunteers at the Sussex County 4-H Achievement Banquet on Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Ross Station in Seaford. Mast was recognized at the Kent County 4-H Achievement Event on Oct. 6 in Harrington.

Delaware 4-H is the largest youth program in the state, reaching an average of 31,000 youth a year through clubs, special events, overnight and day camps, and in-school and after-school programs. It is supported by the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and is an equal opportunity provider. Please visit the Delaware 4-H website for more information.                          

For More Information Contact: Ernie Lopez  elopez@udel.edu

Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBKWUX