4-H Volunteers/ Leaders

---

Volunteers make a difference in our programs!

Volunteering is fun and rewarding, and enables you to share your experiences with others. Do you like birdwatching, cooking, gardening or working with animals? There are many interesting projects and fun things to do in 4-H.

Imagine a young person's satisfaction at learning a new skill, or at doing a job well. Imagine your own satisfaction at watching a young person blossom. You can help our young people as they gain confidence and self-esteem - essential ingredients for happy, productive citizens.

Whether you want to be a club leader or work with kids on a short-term project, there's a role for you in 4-H. Many volunteer roles involve working directly with youth while others do not. Some volunteers are engaged with the program for a long period of time, such as leading a 4-H Club for several years. Others volunteer on a one-time, short-term or even an annual basis, for example, being a homework helper at an after school program, volunteering at a special interest workshop, serving as a judge for public speaking or for an event at the 4-H Youth Fair. In whatever role you may choose to volunteer, our 4-H office can provide training, resources and support that can help make your volunteer position as rewarding as possible for everyone involved.

Prospective volunteers complete all 4-H Volunteer Application Forms which can be found on the 4-H Forms section of this website. In addition, those who volunteer to work directly with youth will be asked to consent to a criminal background screening at Cooperative Extension's expense, as a means of ensuring the safety and security both of our volunteers and of the people we serve through our programs.

Support and Training for 4-H Leaders is provided by Rensselaer County Cornell Cooperative Extension staff.  This support may include personal visits, telephone calls, training workshops, program development committee meetings, manuals, and the county newsletter, the Clover Chronicle.

4-H Volunteers- Annual Training

Please take 10 minutes to complete the mandatory volunteer sexual harassment prevention training.  We will be asking for this to be done annually. The training and information can be found at http://blogs.cornell.edu/ccevolunteertraining/required-training/ . Please email yourself the confirmation for your certificate (email is required in the confirmation link) and then forward us a copy of the confirmation email to cce-rensselaer-volunteer@cornell.edu. These were due on April 1st of the current year, if you have not already done your training, please do so as soon as possible.

Volunteer E-Learning- 4-H Volunteer E-Learning Course has 4 15-20 minute modules to give an overview of 4-H and positive youth development strategies. Please email Kandis a copy of certificate after you complete the modules. 

Last updated April 13, 2020