A member of the Double Diamond 4-H Multi Club from the Busby area has been chosen as one of 24 Youth Service Leaders, who will travel to different areas of Canada to work on community-focused projects with other youth.
Brookelyn Felske has been involved with 4-H for about eight years. She typically does beef projects each year, though she has been involved in a couple of life skills projects.
The selection of 24 Youth Service Leaders from across Canada is part of a larger program entitled Hands to Larger Service, which is in its first year.
It is being funded through a sponsorship by McDonald’s Canada and money from the federal government, specifically the Canada Service Corps.
The name of the program is inspired by the 4-H pledge: “I PLEDGE my HEAD to clearer thinking; my HEART to greater loyalty; my HANDS to larger service, and my HEALTH to better living, for my club, my community and my country.”
Brookelyn said she heard about Hands to Larger Service when the Northwest 4-H Region sent out information about the program. As well, it was advertised on the 4-H Canada website.
“I thought it would be a cool opportunity and decided to apply,” she said.
Brookelyn said she had to fill out a questionnaire about her past community service, her involvement in 4-H, why community service was important to her and why she would be a good choice for the program.
For example, Brookelyn was one of four students from St. Mary School in Westlock to attend a Generate 2017 summit on climate change and renewable energy.
These four students have since spearheaded fundraisers to have an eco-friendly water fountain installed in the school.
She said she wanted to be part of the program “because I like giving back to my community and I think that’s really important.”
Brookelyn added that she believes in “engaging the youth” in giving back to the community.
“It’s really cool to be one of the first ones to do this, just to get to experience it and kind of make it meaningful for what it will be in the future, and … to make it a really good program that I think will benefit the country in many ways,” she said.
“I think it’s really important to give back to our community, and to be able to travel across Canada and help out in other communities is cool as well.”
4-H Canada announced the names of the 24 Youth Service Leaders last week. Brookelyn was chosen along with four other girls from Alberta, which has more Youth Service Leaders than any other province.
“We are very excited to be announcing this extremely talented group,” said 4-H Canada CEO Shannon Benner, in a release.
“I can’t wait to see what these 24 youth leaders will help to create as they develop service projects that will have a lasting impact within communities across Canada.”
Felske said she has already been paired to work with the Westlock District 4-H Exchange, a group of 4-H members from various clubs who will be participating in an exchange with a group from New Brunswick this summer.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed yet, their idea is do some work out on the Rotary Trail in Westlock.
“We want to clean it up a little bit, plant some trees, put some birdhouses around — just make it a nicer place for the community to walk down,” she said.
Although the Rotary Trail project will take place this summer, Brookelyn said she hopes to continue with it in the future and will talk to her fellow club members about doing it.
“I just want to keep up with it and keep it clean and keep it a good place for people to walk down,” she said.
In addition to doing community projects, the Youth Service Leaders will undergo training to develop project management and leadership skills, as well as learn about community engagement and positive youth development.
To that end, Brookelyn travelled to Toronto over the Victoria Day long weekend to undergo training. This was her visit to Toronto, incidentally.
“It was really cool. I learned a lot and got to meet a lot of really cool people from the 4-H program that I don’t think I would have met before,” she said.
“We’re all from across Canada. It’s kind of cool to see all the different perspectives and how 4-H differs throughout the country.”
Because McDonald’s is sponsoring this program, the teens also visited the company’s the national headquarters and met with McDonald’s president and CEO John Betts.
“He gave us some really good information about how to make stuff impactful and how to be a true leader,” she said.
Brookelyn said she would like to thank the sponsors for “giving us the opportunity to make a difference in our communities.”
