Family and Consumer Sciences: EFNEP 4-H Youth

EFNEP Youth and 4-H 

The Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) works with low income adult volunteers who may form a 4-H club for youth.  These children may then attend summer camp as long as they are presently a member of an EFNEP 4-H Club or have previously been a member.  Youth are able to participate in the summer camp program through donations received from businesses and service organizations in Washington County.

4-H EFNEP Youth Attend Camp Sacandaga in Speculator, NY

Developing Capable, Competent, and Caring Youth through CCE 4-H Youth Development

Nayomi Perkins admits that as an eight year old she was not the most cooperative member of her 4-H Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) group.  In fact, she says, her EFNEP leader was probably not always eager to work with her.  "When I first joined, I had a really bad attitude."

Now 15 years old, Perkins says, "My attitude has changed so much over the years that she likes to have me around."

She attributes her transformation to her involvement in several Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development programs, including CCE 4-H EFNEP Youth Group, 4-H EFNEP Camp, and a 4-H club.  She has participated in the 4-H EFNEP leader first shared experiences on how to prepare food.  Perkins later joined the 4-H club that her leader created for EFNEP youth to get them more involved in the community.  As a member of the club, Perkins has learned to work with other youth and adults in a collaborative and cooperative way.

Perkins has volunteered at the 4-H food booth at the Washington County Fair, given public presentations on food and nutrition, and participated in community service projects.  She also joined the Teen Council, which coordinates exchanges with 4-H youth in other states.  In 1999, the New York State 4-H group visited Kentucky, and in 2000 the Kentucky youth visited New York.  Perkins also plans to help out at the Ronald McDonald House and work as a candy striper at a local hospital.

One of Perkins' favorite annual activities is the 4-H EFNEP Camp.  Begun in 1992, the camp provides EFNEP youth with the opportunity to participate in a week of camp activities at Camp Sacandaga in Speculator, New York.  4-H Camp promotes leadership and self-understanding skills so that youth can lead productive and functional lives.  It provides a safe and quality leisure experience that offers relief from many of their day-to-day stresses.

Perkins has gone to the camp each year for the past five years.  Since she started attending the camp, she has learned survival skills, arts and crafts, canoeing, and fishing.  Perkins says the camp experience has taught her to get along with other kids she doesn't know and to stay out of trouble.

"I call it my home away from home because that's what it feels like," she says.

The camp is unique because it builds on the previous camp experiences of the participants as well as their involvement in 4-H.  The youth who attend the camp also do a community service project and write thank-you notes to the donors.  Perkins gave a presentation to the Salem Auxiliary on her 4-H camp adventures, picked up trash on the school grounds and along roadsides, baked cookies and sang Christmas carols for the residents of a nursing home, and volunteered for a community beautification project.

"I like the different things we do," Perkins says.  "It's a lot of fun."

As a result of participating in 4-H EFNEP, 4-H camp, and her 4-H club, Perkins has gained self-acceptance, assurance, and many new friends.  She has become such a confident young adult that she was selected as one of five New York representatives who attended EFNEP's national 30th anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C., in April 1999.

This article was taken from a Cornell University Press Release.