The Helping Hands grant award is an opportunity for Minnesota 4-H youth to turn their ideas into action! This award funds project ideas that are led by 4-H youth in partnership with supportive adults, local businesses, and non-profit organizations. University of Minnesota Extension Development and Minnesota 4-H are pleased to announce two 2025 Helping Hands grant award recipients in Lake County 4-H this year.
The Lake County 4-H program received a grant award to replace aging and broken mobile showcase project display booths for exhibits at the Lake County Fair. The new booths will allow for exhibits to be seen more easily and set up more efficiently. Construction of these booths will be completed by youth with guidance from adult volunteers.
The Lake County North Shore 4-H Community Club received a grant award for installation of Handwashing Stations at the Lake County Fairgrounds. North Shore Club’s goal with this project is to improve sanitary conditions for fairgoers and 4-H personnel, especially near the animal buildings and 4-H food stand. Every person who visits the fair will be positively impacted by this project, and the overall cleanliness of the fairgrounds will be enhanced.
The public is invited to attend the Lake County Fair August 7-10, 2025 to see the completion of these wonderful projects as well as all 4-H and open class exhibits.
About Extension 4-H: 4-H is a youth development program of the University of Minnesota Extension. Available for youth in Kindergarten through one year after high school, 4-H’ers participate in hands-on learning experiences in STEM, leadership & civic engagement, animal science, creative arts and much more. Through this learn-by-doing process, youth obtain essential life skills such as problem solving, decision making, coping and communicating that help them succeed in their school, college, community and career. Research shows that youth who participate in 4-H have better grades and are more emotionally engaged.
