Unemployment And Obesity (NAPSA)—After tornadoesripped through her small town in Monroe County, Ky, 4-H’er Meg Copass decided to help her town better pre- pare for emergencies. After talking with localofficials, Meg realized her town lacked the funds to pay for an early-warning emergency system that raised $11,873 from her community. With 80 percent of the total cost covered, Monroe County purchased the emergency response system. Now, a warning can be ci 4) Mt By organizing concerts, silent auctions, game tournaments and food sales, Meg single-handedly i] Fi ing storms. v could alert the residents of approach- After raising nearly $12,000 through grassroots fundraising, 4-H’er Meg Copass helped her county in Kentucky pur- chase an early-warning emergency response system. call centers 30 miles away. obese. The state also ranks 11th worst in the U.S. for childhood obesity. ment to her community made her system technology, Vivian and her heard up to eight miles away and can be triggered by 911 emergency At 16 years old, Meg’s commit- countysafer. Across the country in Oregon, Using geographic information 4-H group mapped out grocery In Jose’s community, the increasing prevalence of high-tech and convenience stores in their county and tracked the stores with healthy food options. They found a virtual food desert. So Vivian and her group initiated a campaign to convince store owners to add healthier food choices for their customers. tutorials that Jose and his team provide teach how to e-mail, create a website and effectively search on the Internet for jobs and resources. At the age of 17, Jose is helping live healthierlives. Like Vivian and Jose, Meg credits her confidence and perseverance to what she learned in 4-H. “A-H helped me grow. It gave me the skills I needed and helped me to know myself better.” Stories like these are taking Jose Cazares and his group, the 4-H Tech Wizards, bridged the digital divide in their town by training youth and adults on how to improve their computer and Internetskills. workplaces has madeit difficult for people without computer skills to find employment. However, the his community become more appealing to employers. Back on the East Coast in Wake County, N.C., 16-year-old Vivian McCarter made it easier for people in her community to find healthier food and to live healthierlives. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, two-thirds of all adults in North Carolina are overweight or Vivian helped her neighbors place all across the nation due to the activism and ingenuity of 4-H youth through Join the Rev- olution of Responsibility, a mul- tifaceted brand campaign launched by National 4-H Coun- cil. The campaign tells today’s 4-H story through the achieve- ments of its young people. Visit www.4-h.org/revolution for more information about 4-H and Join the Revolution of Responsibility.
