Auburn, Nov. 13-- To mark its 100th anniversary, 4-H hopes to generate volunteer community service labor worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The 4-H Power of Youth Pledge Campaign is harnessing the energy, interests and geographic reach of 4-H participants in all 3,067 counties in America.

The formula is simple says Dr. Bob Drakeford, volunteer programs coordinator for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

"4-H has 6.8 million members and 610,000 adult leaders. If everyone donated a day of

community service to a civic project, it would generate nearly 60 million hours worth more than $300

million at just the minimum wage. And, if every 4-H participant recruits another worker, the numbers

double to 120 million hours and $600 million in civic engagement," Drakeford says.

The Power of Youth Pledge Campaign begins at the county level when a 4-H

member gets involved in the community and recruits others not in 4-H to get involved. The campaign goal is to have millions of 4-H people draw in millions of other people to become involved in communities.

The campaign is being conducted in tandem with 4-H's National Centennial Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century. The centennial conversation, which began this fall, will be followed by a state conversation in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and five territories. It will culminate in the National Conversation in Washington, D.C., in Feb. 2002.

Pledges are being collected from 4-H members in every county, then passed on to the states and finally to the nation. Public officials, such as mayors, commissioners, education leaders, state legislators, governors, members of Congress and the President of the United States are invited to take part as recipients of the pledges at each level.

The idea is for youth at any age to think about the needs of their community, think about their own interests, and then pledge to take personal action. A 7-year-old might pledge to help elderly neighbors keep their yard clean. A 12-year-old might take three friends to clean up a park or start a group at school that would help classmates find solutions to arguments. An older teen might pledge to raise money for a domestic violence shelter, organize a countywide cleanup, or collect cans of food for a local food bank.