Small Town Shelter Received Big Time Help from 4-H Youth

JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK (April 10, 2024) -- The Chautauqua County 4-H Teen Ambassadors is made up of a handful of outstanding 13–18-year-old 4-H’ers who have a desire to dial in on their leadership skills and want to have more responsibility in the realm of Chautauqua County 4-H. Each teen is required to apply to become a Teen Ambassador and their applications are then evaluated and teens are selected.

This year we are working very hard to build a great team of teens while working on their leadership skills, community service goals, and their goals of being “the face of 4-H” at our upcoming county fair. In addition to these great goals and skills the Teen Ambassadors have also been given the great privilege of participating in college tours with our Lead 4-H Educator, Lindsey Crisanti Meeder.

Last weekend, the Teen Ambassadors planned a community service day at Small Town Shelter, in Sherman, NY. These teenagers gave up their Saturday to help Kelly do a week’s worth of work in just a few hours! These fearless leaders were presented with a pile and a task. They were all able to jump right in and use each other’s strengths to tackle the project at hand, leaving Small Town Shelter looking spic and span! They were pressure washing cages, kitty pans, and everything in between and then learned about the importance of sanitation and biosecurity while spraying all items with a special animal safe sanitary cleaner. The teens also learned about animal care laws and what is acceptable at a shelter and what is not no matter the size of the animal or organization. They even went above and beyond and raked all the leaves and sticks from the yard! The Teen Ambassador leaders are immensely proud of them for showing up and donating a beautiful Saturday to a small animal shelter that needed physical labor. A special thank you to the parents and siblings that stayed with us and helped make this impact in the community.

“The job they did would have taken me at least a week to complete on my own. Thankful is an understatement. You guys are literally the best!” Kelly of Small Town Shelter stated.

The Teen Ambassadors also have plans to volunteer at St. Susan’s, The Chautauqua Safety Village, 4-H Foundation in Stockton, and the Audubon, as well as collaborating with the Master Gardener program for their upcoming plant sale and plant preparation at the fairgrounds.

The 4-H Youth Development Program is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua). CCE-Chautauqua is a community based educational organization, affiliated with Cornell University, Chautauqua County Government, the NYS SUNY system, and the federal government through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua. Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.

Last updated April 10, 2024