The website for 4-H 4-h.org says that, “4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.” It is administered by the Cooperative extension System of the United States Department of Agriculture.
The 4-H’s are Head, Heart, Hands and Health.
The organization serves over 6 million members in the United States from ages 5 to 21 reaching kids throughout America from urban neighborhoods to suburban schoolyards to rural farming communities.
The 4-H started as youth program in Clark Count, Ohio in 1902 and with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 Congress created the Cooperative Extension Service of the USDA. Included within the CES charter the work of various boys’ and girls’ clubs involved with agriculture, home economics and related subjects. By 1924 these clubs became organized as “4-H” clubs and the clover emblem was adopted.
The organization is often associated with summer camps, county fairs and state fairs.
National 4-H Council is the national, private sector non-profit partner of 4-H and the Cooperative Extension System. National 4-H Council focuses on fundraising; brand management; communications; legal and fiduciary support to national and state 4-H programs; and operation of the full-service National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Md., and the National 4-H Supply Service the authorized agent for items bearing the 4-H Name and Emblem.