The Tuscarawas County food and fashion board is made up of a diverse group of young individuals with interests in miscellaneous 4-H projects. With a service oriented model, the club is often involved in various events and projects that have community outreach in mind.
To mention a few..
- Quilts of Valor. A project where veterans are awarded quilts, made by the group, in an effort to honor them for their service.
- Writing out inspiration cards for support groups
- A blanket drive, where they collected blankets and donated them to the local sheriff department to aid crash victims.
- Projects in partnership with compass
- So many more
Many of the things they do are service oriented. However, a huge piece of the food and fashion board is exposing youth to the diversity of food, fashion and similar arts.
A day where service and diversity meet
Mckenna Armstrong, a 17 year old, 5 year food and fashion board member, told me of her favorite event- “Create With 4-H!” day. On Create Day, the food and fashion board invites all 4-H youth to an event full of fun! With the goal of getting kids involved in and experiencing new things, the members of the board set up a variety of stations with activities in fiber arts/sewing, nutrition/cooking, cake decorating, home decorating/art, and scrapbooking.
“It’s pretty cool because the kids get to try different things and maybe find something they really like that they maybe wouldn’t have tried another time” -Mckenna
Broadening Horizons
“Create With 4-H!” isn’t the only opportunity for members to experience new things. This summer, the food and fashion board got the chance to experience a different world during a trip to Chicago. Their tour of the windy city was hugely food and fashion focused, but of course they didn’t miss the chance to visit some big tourist attractions as well. They visited The Bean and the Navy pier, as well as several food attractions. Such as an ice cream museum where they were able to sample a bunch of crazy flavored ice creams. One of those wacky flavors being Hot Dog!
On the fashion end of things, they were able to visit some cool shops and boutiques as well as the Vogue fabrics wholesale facility.
“They had every type of fabric that you could possibly imagine. All kinds of things you wouldn’t find at your local craft store. And all of it was so neatly organized, I wish I was that organized!”- Allison Kendle
Allison is a 17 year old, 4 year food and fashion board member shared many details of their unique trip to Chicago. Allison has a lot of interest in textiles and plays a big role in the board’s “Quilts of Valor” project. This trip was a great way for the youth involved to broaden their horizons in new areas as well as in their existing passions!
The various 4-H programs and clubs all come with benefits and life lessons that kids can take with them for their entire lives. Every one of them, shaping super leaders. The Food and Fashion board is a unique place where young people are taught the value of uplifting your community and given opportunities to hone in on food and fashion related passions.
For more information on the food and fashion board click here to visit their website.
Reporting,
Alyssa Harbold
Sources: Christine Kendle: 4-H Youth Development Educator, Mckenna Amstrong:Food and Fashion Board member, Allison Kendle: Food and Fashion Board member.