Woodie Hughes Jr, Fort Valley State University’s assistant Extension administrator state 4-H program leader, became the first African American male 4-H Program Leader to be recognized as a National 4-H Trailblazer in the history of the National 4-H System. For more than 20 years, Hughes has made an impact through 4-H across the state of Georgia and beyond. During his tenure, the 4-H leader has secured more than $12 million in external funds. This section highlights the impact of several 4-H projects spearheaded under the leadership of Hughes.
Fort Valley State University’s Wal-Mart Foundation 4-H Healthy Habits grant project
Amount: $110,000
Impact: 3,609 youth served their community at the Village Community Garden in Sylvester, Georgia, where they learned 4-H healthy habits through ongoing 4-H Healthy Living Outreach Education.
Impact: More than 500 households received fresh produce from the Village Community Garden for free on an annual basis
Fort Valley State University 4-H Tech Changemakers Grant Project
Amount: $42,000
Impact: 4-H Youth Ambassadors and the 4-H Tech Changemaker Youth Ambassadors reached a total of 323 adults with 6 hours of training in Internet safety, searching and applying for jobs online, social media safety and responsible behavior guidelines for the Internet.
Fort Valley State University Positive Youth Development 4-H Mindfulness grant project
Amount: $50,000
Impact: Engaged more than 200 Chattahoochee Hills 4-H Charter School students and their parents about the importance of being mentally healthy through mindfulness education.
The 1890 Region 4-H Program Leaders Multi-State Youth Innovators Empowering Agriculture (YEA) USDA-AFRI grant project.
Amount: $7,850,000 (5-year period) In addition, this proposal also received a subaward for $475,000 as a part of a seven multi-state initiative.
Projected Impact: FVSU’s 4-H program plans to serve a minimum of 60-100 new 4-H Program youth annually through 4-H College and Career Readiness Outreach Education and 4-H mentoring programming annually.
During the 2023 Southern Region Program Leadership Network (SRPLN) meeting, Hughes was honored by the Association of Extension Administrators (AEA) with the Excellence in Extension Award in 4-H. Learn more about his award at https://bit.ly/48ouQZD
Below are the ES-237 State 4-H Youth participant/enrolled reporting category numbers for the Fort Valley State University Cooperative Extension 4-H Program for October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023 without duplication.