Guest Opinion by Mollie Wells: Consider helping the San Luis Valley, CO, 4-H program

You might not know where the San Luis Valley is in Colorado, but there’s a good chance you have heard of 4-H. 4-H is national youth organization that helps youth reach their fullest potential. The 6 million youth nationwide get to learn about different life skills through the enormous list of projects they can engage in. These can include but are not limited to cake decorating, welding, robotics, photography, cooking, and yes, the typical livestock showing of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats and so much more. 
These kids have a higher success rate of going to college, being leaders and in a world that adds a lot of pressure to our youth, 4-H gives a solid foundation for these kids to stand on. How does this affect the San Luis Valley? Everything.

Nestled in southern Colorado between the San Juan and Sangre De Cristo Mountain ranges this valley is the world’s largest productive Alpine Valley. Six counties are included in the SLV area, and it ranges in the size of Connecticut. A diverse community ranging from Hispanic, Native American, Anglo that is very agriculturally driven. Despite being very isolated geographically the San Luis Valley still faces the big world issues of drugs and poverty and a lack of resources. This makes the need for youth programs such as 4-H even more important to keep these kids engaged and prepared for the future. Without a youth specialist it’s impossible to maintain a 4-H program. In a 12-year period we went from having 2 specialists to having 1 specialist and even at times having no 4-H specialist to cover all 6 counties in the San Luis Valley. 

Back in 2019 Larry Brown came back to the SLV Extension as area director (during his first reign he was livestock specialist for 9 years.). Brown took the lead to rebuild the SLV Extension program up again. He was able to hire on a 4-H specialist, Junto’s specialist, Agricultural specialist and some temporary program coordinators. However, one vision he had was to hire a second 4-H specialist. With the help of Karla Shriver and the Outcult Foundation in the fall of 2023 his dream started to unfold. The Outcult Foundation awarded funds for Brown to hire a 2nd 4-H specialist for 3 years and this is how the Endowment Fund was uniquely created. Brown’s goal is to earn between 2.5 million to make the 2nd 4-H position permanent.

Brown and his team know this is huge undertaking, but they are determined to find grants, philanthropic gifts and donations that can help the SLV Extension. If you have questions or interest in the SLV Extension 4-H Endowment Fund, please reach out the SLV Extension at 719-852-7381.