Families are realizing the benefit of feeding their families the ‘good fuel’ from their farmers locally grown food. Why? Because when you eat locally grown food it is easily digestible. When you drink pure milk from a grass fed cow, the milk is easily digestible. Much like the sincerity and authenticity that is bred in someone who is raised with the values of 4-H. When you carry these values and principles through your life and into your work, people are attracted to your sincerity and authenticity. In other words, you become easily digestible.
My grandparents as well as parents were active 4-H members, both as children and into young adulthood. My parents encouraged my brother and me to get involved in the organization at a young age. There is little doubt that both he and I were “born” into 4-H and it has served as a fertile soil for cultivating our work ethic, our values, and our sustainable relationships.
I grew up on a farm in Caldwell County, where I learned early in life how planting seeds of hard work, dedication, and perseverance blossom into lasting success. Some of the 4-H activities in which I was involved at a young age included speech, demonstrations, record books, talent shows, camp, the National Conference, and the National 4-H Congress.
However, my experience serving on the State Teen Council is where I learned so many valuable leadership lessons as young man and participating in the livestock judging program from the age of nine years old until I was 17. Serving on the Gold Team in 1978 taught me a number of skills, including quick thinking and public speaking, which continue to serve me well as an attorney and community leader. In addition to those valuable skills, the harvest that I reaped was the strong friendships that remain with me to this day. People who served with me on the State Teen Council are still some of my closest friends today, more so than many of the people with whom I attended high school, college, or law school.
These regionally grown, life-long friendships and my experiences in 4-H led me to continue my involvement in the program as an adult. After I received a degree in Ag Economics from UK, I went to Chase Law School at Northern Kentucky University, where I served as president of the Student Bar Association, before settling in Northern Kentucky to raise a family and build a law practice.
My passion for 4-H continues to this day; I serve as a volunteer and for 18 years have coached the Boone County Livestock team. I am a member and vice president of the Boone County Fair board of directors and active in the Boone County 4-H program. I joined the 4-H Foundation board of directors in November 2007 and currently serve as chairman of the board. My hope is to plant and cultivate more leadership and talent in our region. What sustains my involvement in these programs is seeing the fruits of our labor manifest themselves into inspiring teachers, thought-provoking scientists or engineers, and hard working parents.
Season after season, I continue to see the amazing personal development growth cycle is evident in youth all over our Commonwealth. I know that 4-H can have the same positive impact on the children in our state as it had on me. I joined the Foundation Board because I believe the Foundation is an integral part of the Kentucky 4-H program, and I believe that, with your help, it can become an even more valuable tool for the program and those who participate in it.
I am excited to see the newer 4-H programs — such as science, engineering, technology, and the country-ham program — continue to grow across the state. For that growth to continue, we must encourage our friends, our families, and our neighbors to donate to support 4-H and the 4-H Foundation.
If you were involved with Kentucky 4-H and it gave you the skills that helped to make you successful, or if you have children or grandchildren who are involved in the program, or if you are simply looking for a fertile soil to donate your time or money, please consider the Kentucky 4-H Foundation. We need to keep feeding our next generation of leadership good fuel. You can learn more about the Foundation or donate online by visiting the pages here on our website.
David Wallace is the founding partner of Wallace Boggs, PLLC, a law firm in Fort Mitchell, Ky., where he concentrates his legal practice in the areas of business, corporate, banking, and real-estate law.
