“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give” – Winston Churchill
The holidays are upon us and it is a great time to reflect on the season of service. 4-H strives to instill four essential elements: Mastery, Belonging, Independence, and Generosity, into every 4-H member. Generosity serves as an opportunity to value and practice service for others. 4-H members can show their generosity through service projects on the club, county, and state levels.
Purdue Extension developed a wonderful toolkit to teach generosity to 4-H members. Consider the following during this season of giving. (Generosity Factsheet from Purdue Extension)
Giving back is an important concept for 4-H members to learn
- Each member has received the benefits of contributions that volunteers, donors, and others have made
to the 4-H program.
- Learning to be generous is a concept that will serve members well throughout their lives.
Generosity can take many forms:
- Giving our time to a cause.
- Using our talents or performing acts of kindness to help another.
- Sharing our treasures or financial/monetary support to reach a goal.
Generosity has benefits:
- Volunteering can boost your self-confidence.
- Generosity helps you become more comfortable in social situations.
- Volunteering helps develop leadership skills that can be helpful when you look for a job.
- Volunteer experiences can help you define a career choice.
- Volunteering can provide you with a sense of well-being.
- Volunteers report sleeping better at night knowing they did something to help others.
- Youth who volunteer to help others are less likely to abuse drugs or smoke.
- Adults who volunteer are less likely to have high blood pressure.
- Volunteering gives you a sense of belonging to your community or an organization.
- Volunteering helps you master difficult social interactions.
- Volunteering develops the independence to try new acts of kindness.
Do’s of being generous:
- Do volunteer for issues that are important to you.
- Do assess your talents — identify you strengths and use them to guide your generosity goals.
- Do journal your volunteer accomplishments — record what you learn from your volunteer experiences.
- Do try new roles as a volunteer to help you grow.
- Do count your acts of kindness as generosity.
- Do give time, if you can’t give money or gifts.
Duval County 4-H wishes all of our 4-H members, families, friends, and supporters a wonderful holiday season. We hope you take the time to remember all the things you have to be grateful for and take the opportunity to give back to your community.