July 2026 4-H Volunteer Corner: Your corner for connection, tips, and tricks!

June 30, 2026 News

Developmental Relationships

Developmental relationships are foundational connections between young people and adults or peers. By offering emotional and tangible support, these bonds empower youth to uncover their identities, build resilience, and acquire the necessary social and emotional skills to succeed in life.

As a 4-H volunteer you can focus on these five key elements:

  • Express Care through listening, warmth, and dependability.
  • Challenge Growth, expect their best and help them reflect on failures.
  • Provide Support, empower and advocate, help youth navigate systems and set appropriate boundaries.
  • Share Power  through inclusion, respect and collaboration.
  • Expand Possibilities by exposing youth to new ideas and opportunities; connect them with others who can help them reach their goals.
Poster promoting 4-H Volunteer Summit with slogan "Grow. Lead. Inspire." displayed in bold white text on red and green diagonal banners against a dark blue background. Features 4-H clover logo at top and University of Maine Cooperative Extension logo with founding year 1865 at bottom.
Do these look familiar? You may have seen them on the 4-H Thriving model flip cards. Ask your local county 4-H staff for a set if you don’t have one!

4-H Volunteer Summit

Saturday, November 7, 2026

THIS event is going to be SO MUCH FUN! Along with interactive workshops, and a 4-H Discovery Zone, there will be a delicious lunch and door prizes! Save the date, check out the 4-H Volunteer Summit webpage and look for registration to open soon!

Resource Corner

We have a great national 4-H website! If you haven’t taken time to peruse the site, there is lots of good information and resources to be found. One interesting resource is the  Ready for Fair Series. It consists of short videos from 4-H members in Virginia as they share what it is like to participate in animal projects with their eyes on the fair shows- three great young people!