'Community Pride' grant to foster environmental awareness for youth

Just two years later, the environmental program has expanded beyond her dreams. It has become an annual day camp involving local churches, the Boy Scouts, parents, school attendance officers, and a host of other community leaders.

The more than 400 children who participate in the program still learn about the environment. They also enjoy learning activities such as motivational workshops, cake decorating, a puppet program about the hazards of drug use, dance and cheerleading classes, and a baseball clinic. "Parents love it," Purnell says. "And children gain skills while they participate."

Thanks to a gift to Mississippi State from The Chevron Companies, the state 4-H program hopes to see this kind of community involvement and service learning duplicated in counties around the state.

Chevron has committed $250,000 to Mississippi State to enhance the company's existing Community Pride Program in Mississippi. The gift is part of a total $600,000, five-year commitment the company recently made to the university's first-ever major gifts effort, The Campaign for Mississippi State.

"Community Pride is sponsored statewide by The Chevron Companies and is administered by the 4-H Department of the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service at Mississippi State," explained Joe Bethea, Chevron's public affairs manager in Jackson.

"The program is designed to provide 'seed' money for local initiatives in environmental education and environmental awareness for worthy community projects. An awards segment spotlights the 'best of the best' community projects through regional competition," he said.

Local clubs, classes, and civic groups can apply through their county extension agents for $100 to $300 Community Pride Environmental Grants, said Jim Yonge, 4-H youth development specialist. Typically, groups receiving the grants will find ways to involve other local and corporate sponsors in developing projects such as conservation field days, environmental camps, arts projects with environmental themes, or other environmental-related programs.

The key to Community Pride is community involvement, said Yonge. "The best way to improve our communities and our environmental responsibility is from local initiative. Community Pride grants stimulate and encourage the kind of involvement that makes a dramatic impact on education. Children learn that they can make a difference."

Already a variety of activities are under way around the state. In Booneville, students are working to establish an outdoor classroom. Students at Starkville High School plan to repair and maintain Lusk Lake for outdoor activities. A Tallahatchie County grade school group wants to conduct environmental fairs.

"We see Community Pride as a way to put resources back into the local community," Bethea said. "The program offers our youth and our communities a wealth of opportunities to grow together."

Those interested in learning more about the Community Pride Program should contact their county extension agent.