Living the 4-H Pledge--I Pledge My Hands to Larger Service

Summary

On October 11th, Hurricane Michael left a path of total destruction as it came ashore in the Florida Panhandle and proceeded through extreme Southwestern Georgia. This category 4 hurricane caused over $3 billion worth of damage to Georgia’s agriculture industry and left thousands with damaged homes and no electricity. As the storm moved away, the level of destruction continued to grow. A need for critical supplies was identified and 4-H’ers quickly stepped into action to pledge their hands to larger service.

Situation

Hurricane Michael caused catastrophic damage in Florida’s panhandle and extreme Southwestern Georgia. One of the hardest hit areas in Georgia was Decatur, Seminole, and Miller counties. This area of the state is extremely rich in agricultural production. Georgia’s agriculture industry produces approximately $74 Billion annually. The timing of Hurricane Michael couldn’t have been any worse. Farmers were at the very beginning of harvest season. Crops were ready to be harvested and removed from the field, but there wasn’t enough time as the hurricane’s landfall was imminent. As a result, in just a few hours crops were destroyed, infrastructure was damaged, and thousands of families were left without electricity. Hurricane Michael caused a $3 Billion loss in Georgia’s agricultural industry. Along with the damaged crops, citizens of Southwest Georgia were left with a mess created by a natural disaster. There was significant damage to the electrical infrastructure which caused residents of Decatur, Seminole, and Miller counties to be without power for an estimated 4-6+ weeks. Without electricity, these community members and 4-H families had a critical need for water, food, and hygiene supplies.

Response

On October 15th, Screven County 4-H Agent, Lauren Boykin, reached out to the Extension Agent in Decatur County to offer help. After a brief discussion, the critical need items were identified. The 4-H families were in need of bottled water, paper goods, cleaning supplies, food, baby diapers/wipes, and personal hygiene products. After this initial discussion, the Screven County 4-H Agent reached out to surrounding counties in Southeast District for help in collecting supplies for the 4-H families in Southwest District. A truck and trailer were made available and the counties were tasked with filling it with supplies before the end of the week.

Impact

In just 4 short days, a trailer from Screven County 4-H was packed full of supplies. A total of 11 counties across Southeast and Southwest Georgia participated in collecting items. The trailer of supplies contained: 3600 bottles of water 240 rolls of paper towels 360 rolls of toilet paper 30 packages of paper plates 15 large boxes of cleaning supplies 2200 baby diapers 450 individual packages of baby wipes 20 boxes of canned food items 25 large boxes of individually wrapped food items & snacks 13 boxes of personal hygiene products 125 children’s books and coloring books 90 cans of pet food The trailer full of supplies was delivered by the Screven County 4-H Agent on Saturday, October 20th to the Decatur County Extension Office. The supplies were to be divided among Decatur, Seminole and Miller counties to provide relief for 4-H’ers and their families following Hurricane Michael. The 4-H’ers in all of the participating counties were instrumental in providing much needed aid to others and were essentially living out the 4-H Pledge by pledging their hands to larger service.

State Issue

Youth & Family Development

Details

• Year: 2018
• Geographic Scope: Multi-County
• County: Screven
• Program Areas:
  • 4-H Youth