Florida 4-H News Room: 4-H News from Around the State

The Erekson family works with Harvest Aviation to supply missionary families.   Denise Erekson loves to teach, and as a homeschooling mom of five girls, she gets plenty of practice. But Erekson isn't just devoted to her own girls. She also is the leader for the Green Acres 4-H club, Wauchula's local homeschooling club that bustles with 40 kids ages 5 to 18. "When we were new to the community, I wanted the girls to have an opportunity to have interaction with the community and to meet new friends outside of our church," said Erekson. The family moved to Hardee County six years ago from Ohio, but Erekson and her husband, Ronny, are originally Texas ranchers who worked cattle for 15 years. The family left the Lone Star state to take a job with Harvest Aviation, a not-for-profit flight service that delivers cargo to missionary families in Belize in Central America. Ronny is the aircraft mechanic for the local group, which flies out of the Wauchula ...

4H members beautify camp with inaugural event LAKE PLACID - It was a hot, busy morning for nearly 60 nature lovers at Camp Cloverleaf Saturday as the first 4-H Club National Planting Day event took place. Local 4-H members from several different groups came together at the camp to take part in a national campaign that was localized at the hands of several volunteers. The Keep Highlands County Beautiful campaign was the driving force behind the event and coordinator Christy Reed approached the 4-H about joining in on the effort. "Christy came to me about it in July," said Lauren Hrncirik, 4-H Youth Development Agent. The idea comes on the same day as other 4-Hers across America are making a more beautiful place to live in. "We started at 8:30, just like everyone else. I honestly thought we'd be out here well past lunch, but these kids work really fast," Hrncirik said. The first-time event was a huge success that Hrncirik and Reed contribute to all the...

Former Florida 4-H President and Council 6 year Trustee Natalie Cheng is volunteering on the 4-H Global team. She took two weeks off from her professional career in New York to serve with the 4-H Global Team in Tanzania and Kenya, Africa.