Christmas Time Is Here!!

Nothing rings in the Christmas season for me than taking time to give to those who may not be as blessed as I am during this time of year. 14 Richmond County 4-H'ers & parents met last night to do just that!!

Richmond 4-H County Council members chose this year's project of giving donations to the BackPack Pals ministry. This is a program that provides backpacks with non-perishable foods to students to eat on the weekends when they may not get a good meal. The students are then responsible for returning the backpack on Monday to participate the next week. Richmond County 4-H'ers collected over 350 individual items for donation for the group!! Richmond County 4-H Livestock Club earned a pizza party at their next meeting for collecting the most items! Family & Friends 4-H Club and Animals "R" Us 4-H Club came in a very close second & third. Great job everyone!!

While we were at the office, we also took some time to write letters to go into Hero Packs, which are given to children of deployed military parents. Two letters go into each Pack, one encouraging the child and one to go to the child's serving parent. The letters will go into Hero Packs to be given out over the next few months.

If you would like more information about Hero Packs, which are a part of Operation: Military Kids, check out http://www.nc4h.org/military/index.html. For more info about the BackPack Pals Ministry, contact Michelle at the Extension Office.



Richmond County 4-H members Courtney Miller & Aaron Wiggins were two of the 4-H'ers who donated food & wrote letters for the Operation: Military Kids Program.

Rabbit & Poultry Expo Sets the Stage!

Five young members of the Animals "R" Us 4-H Club recently met at the Extension Office to show off the animals they had worked with this year. They didn't need to trailer to bring them, or even a lead rope to tie them up with though. Kaitlin Brown, Brenden Watson, Kendell Watson, Courtney Miller, and Katie Miller all participated in the Rabbit & Poultry Expo! Click here to see pictures!

Pictured are Brenden Watson, Kendell Watson (with Kaitlin Brown's chicken, Katie Miller, and Kaitlin Brown.

4-H'ers spoke with Richard Goforth, Extension's Poultry Area Agent and Tiffanee Conrad-Acuna about taking care of their animals and each animals good points and areas for improvement. They also helped the 4-H'ers with their showmanship skills in preparation for having a full Rabbit & Poultry Show next year!

We are excited about the possibility of hosting a full show, with market and showmanship class, next year! If you would like more information about showing rabbits or poultry, please call Michelle or Tiffanee at 997-8255. If you don't have an animal - don't worry - we can help with that too!