4-H Acres. A Place to Belong

4-H Acres improvement challenge continues!

Tompkins County 4-H has a tremendous impact on the lives of its young people, and 4-H Acres is a key to that impact.

4-H Acres is used more than 300 days a year, over 8,000 hours, by over 3,000 participants from across the county!

Perhaps your own family has realized the benefits of participation in Tompkins County 4-H though; 4-H Clubs, Urban Outreach, Rural Youth Services, Primitive Pursuits and many more.

For young people from across Tompkins County, 4-H Acres is a home away from home that provides:

• a safe place to go after school,
• healthy indoor and outdoor spaces
• a venue to showcase 4-H project work,
• a location where they can prepare care packages for local families in need,
• an environment where they have a say in what happens, and
• so much more!

4-H Acres provides as space where young people get to be involved in activities like these:

• 4-H OURS after school program (four days/week during the school year)
  • Monday Mentoring
  • Word-Buffs
  • I Teach Tuesdays
  • Thursday Mentors in Training (M.I.T)
• 4-H Primitive Pursuits (year round programming)
  • Ithaca Forest Preschool
  • After School, School Break, and Homeschool programs
• 4-H Kritter Kamp
  • Leadership skill building
  • Experiences in Animal Science
• 4-H Youth Fair
  • Leadership-Youth Fair Board
  • 4-H member showcase
  • Career skill building
  • Many varieties of project areas
• 4-H Clubs programming and educational meetings
• Rental location for youth and community events in a central location
• Commercial kitchen for local food entrepreneurs

4-H Acres: A Place to Belong (all year long!):

4-H Acres raises the majority of its capital through fund raising opportunities and rental of the facility to outside groups. As our important facility ages, we continue to be challenged with maintenance and upgrades of our buildings

For the last three years our campaign to raise money has focused on the building upgrades we have made to the facility. This year’s focus is to show you what we’ve done, tell you why it matters and what we do at 4-H Acres, and share with you what we need to do next.

We are entering the fourth year of the upgrade project so I thought I would provide some updates. Because of your generous donations, we have leveraged funds from a variety of other donors and foundations.  We are very appreciative for the funds provided to us by Tompkins County to support major upgrades at 4-H Acres. We have also received the generosity of hundreds of hours of volunteer time to conduct 4-H Acres projects. The following work has been completed since we began this campaign five years ago:

Check out our video with pictures of these projects: https://youtu.be/b9Znp1dG6lU

BUT there are still a few key projects that need to be completed and we need your help to do it.

With your support, we will:

• Purchase or build a new storage shed
• Tree services
• General maintenance of our facility

With your help, we can provide our kids and community members with facilities that support the highest quality non-formal educational opportunities.

We know you care about young people and believe that 4-H can help equip them with the skills and values they need to make a difference in today’s world, we are asking you to please join us in giving as generous a gift as you can to 4-H Youth Development in Tompkins County. Every dollar of your contribution will benefit young people right here in our community!

Please make a generous contribution towards our $3,000 by December 31st!

The MISSION of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County (CCE-Tompkins) is to put experience and research knowledge to work through educational partnerships that improve residents’ lives and communities.

Our VISION is that CCE-Tompkins is widely recognized as the resource of choice for excellent community education programs, and will continue to collaborate with other community resources to provide up-to-date information and technology to a constantly widening circle of county residents.

At 4-H we believe that every child needs the opportunity to belong to a caring community. For over 40 years, 4-H Acres has provided thousands of youth and families a place to belong. Current research emphasizes the importance for youth to have opportunities for long-term consistent relationships with adults other than parents. This research suggests that a sense of belonging may be the single most powerful positive ingredient we can add into the lives of children and youth.

4-H Acres offers young people opportunities to experience Belonging, Mastery, Generosity, and Independence – helping them to grow into competent, contributing adults.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

Last updated August 18, 2021