The Rural Voice, 1999-11, Page 20fter nearly
A
85 years, 4-
H, the child
of the province's
ministry of agricul-
ture, is cutting the
apron strings and
going out on its
own. And as with
most children, even
for this 85 -year-old
one, the prospect is
a little scary.
As they cele-
brate 4-H week.
November 1-7, the
province's 4-H
leaders are prepar-
ing for the fateful
day of April 1,
2000 when the
provincial 4-H
Council will take
over running of the
entire 4-H prog-
ram, with
OMAFRA prov-
iding only funding.
"We're appre-
hensive about how
the program will work," said Richard
Kuntz, president of the Bruce County
4-H Leaders Association. "We're
going to miss OMAFRA."
"OMAFRA has been there and
we've had them to fall back on," says
Beverley Haynes, president of the
Perth County 4-H Leaders
Association.
Donna Bridge of Kincardine is
President of the Ontario 4-H Council
as the immense change takes place.
She says she's enjoying the year but
admits she's found herself involved
in a lot more than she thought when
she accepted her one-year term last
February.
Included was attending every one
of the 12 cross -Ontario regional
forums where local 4-H volunteers
were invited to give advice for the
PricewaterhouseCoopers study into
developing a new delivery model for
4-H. Volunteers were asked what
they thought they did well, what they
thought they didn't do well and what
did they hate under the current
conditions that they might be able to
delegate to paid helpers, says Bridge.
From these meetings the
company, which donated half its
consultation fee as an in-kind
All on their own
Starting April 1, Ontario's 4-H program will be completely
run by the non-government Ontario 4-H Council. It marks
the end of nearly 85 years of government involvement.
By Keith Roulston
16 THE RURAL VOICE
donation to the 4-H Council.
prepared a report which was
reviewed at a final forum at Orillia in
July. There 50 people representing 35
4-H associations as well as
OMAFRA and council staff,
examined the recommendations.
There, says Bridge, the
associations represented were really
positive toward the proposal. The
general reaction, she says was "You
listened. You really did listen."
Among the things that the report
"listened" to was the request for help.
Six regional Association Support
Representatives (ASRs) will be hired
who will help local associations with
details like data management,
production of resources and
leadership training — what's called
"front-line support", says Bridge.
These ASRs will work fulltime in
support of 4-H associations, unlike
the current Rural Youth Co-
ordinators who are shared between 4-
H, Junior Farmers and the Rural
Youth Employment Network.
The seven Rural Youth Co-
ordinators hired across Ontario have
been helping 4-H Associations
prepare for the transition. The
initiative, funded by Human Re-
sources Develop-
ment Canada, was
spearheaded by the
Ontario 4-H Coun-
cil. says Murray
Needham of Kin-
cardine who was
hired as the co-
ordinator for
Bruce. Grey,
Huron and Perth
Counties. With 20
years experience in
4-H and Junior
Farmers part of his
mandate is to help
local 4-H Assoc-
iations prepare for
the change. Among
the tasks is seeking
out partners who
can 'help make the
4-H program a
success.
The repercussions
of the change
shouldn't be felt by
ordinary 4-H
members, says
Needham. Most of
the change will be absorbed at the
county association level, and
particularly at the provincial level
where the 4-H Council will suddenly
get a substantial staff.
Helping create that staff will be
John Meek, recently hired as interim
Executive Director of the Ontario 4-
H Council. Meek, who will begin
work November 1 and work toward
the April 1 switchover, has worked in
the past for Gencor, Ontario Dairy
Herd Improvement Association,
Agriculture Canada and United Dairy
and Poultry Co-operative. .
"I was a 4-H member and my
children were 4-H members so I'm
pleased to be part of this important
time in 4-H", Meek said in a press
release announcing his appointment.
Meek won't be on the scene long.
He's come on board to hire the staff
for the changeover, put the financial
planning and management in place,
help develop partnerships and,
eventually, hire his own successor in
time for the April 1 handover of 4-H
management to the Council.
Under the Executive Director will
be four managers in charge of
fundraising, business management.
program management and volunteer