What Will Your Power of Ten Be?

As we celebrate 100 years of MSU Extension in Montana, I’ve thought about the Power of Ten.  In the case of MSU Extension, I think about the power of ten decades of service.  Our office has offered a Power of Ten challenge.  If you take just ten minutes, ten hours or ten days to contribute in some way to your community, it can carry forward.  Generally, the work carries forward in ways you cannot predict at the outset.  I’ve been thinking lately about the positive impact we can have, big or small.  Before I moved to Teton County, Jessica Schlepp, a 4-H member, had an idea for a service project.  She thought that the county 4-H membership could go door-to-door to collect food that could be given to the local food bank and redistributed to those in need.  She called it Trick or Treat for the Food Pantry.  I asked her mother recently when Jessica started the project.  A quick look in her 4-H record book revealed that the project started in 1991.  What Jessica probably didn’t know at the time was how long the effort would continue, or the additional benefits.

                Through the years, the food drive project has been handed down to 4-H members to organize.  Each year, 4-H members volunteer to organize the event.  This year, as it turns out, we have the Power of Ten.  Ten 4-H youth are planning the food drive this year.  It requires leadership, teamwork, planning, communication skills, promoting and organizational skills.  Honing these skills are additional benefits to a charitable effort.   I’ve been involved with the food drives for sixteen years.  In that time, sixteen different teams of 4-H members have worked to plan the event.  We have had two meetings this year and consulting schedules for school, sports, church, food pantry, and facilities has provided ample opportunity for problem solving.  While they sort out the logistics, their goal of gathering as much food for the needy as possible is always in mind.  The 4-H members will be out in force in Choteau on Wednesday, October 15 from 3:30-7:00 p.m. gathering food.  If you’d like to contribute but won’t be home, you can leave non-perishable items in a bag or box by your front door and we will pick up the food.  4-H members in other communities in Teton County also plan food drives at different times of year, providing needed food for the food pantry. 

                Looking at the records, 4-H youth have gathered between 900 and 2000 pounds each year.  Estimating an average of 1450 pounds a year since 1991, Teton County 4-H youth and volunteers have gathered 31,900 pounds of food to feed the hungry.  I’ll bet Jessica never thought the project would carry on so long or have such a lasting impact.

                What lasting impact would you like to have?  Take at least 10 minutes today to plan something that you can lend your effort to that will multiply in power through the years.  Whether it is one person with a good idea or ten people continuing it forward, we can all make our world better.  We challenge you to be the Power of Ten as we celebrate 100 years of Extension.