Don't let the TRAINing leave the station without You!

Are you a community, church, 4-H, or school volunteer or teacher who works hard to do your best to keep youth on the track to a successful future?  Do you sometimes find yourself dragging your caboose because of the energy it takes to keep things from derailing? You are invited to get “On Track to Volunteer Success” at the annual Montana 4-H Leadership Forum, which MSU Extension and 4-H in Teton County are helping to plan with other counties in District 3.  The event is September 30-October 2 in Lewistown, Montana.  There are tickets available to several topic tracks and there are OPI (Office of Public Instruction) renewal units available for certified teachers.  Jump on board now and register by August 31 to receive a discounted ticket for $80.  If you need more time to consider, you can get a main cabin registration between September 1 and 14 for $100, and for those bringing up the caboose, registering between September 15 and September 23 the cost will be $150.

On Friday, September 30, the train leaves the station for several different tour locations. Tours at Bear Gulch Pictographs, Bos Terra and a tour of three manufacturing businesses in the heart of Montana, are just three of the eleven tours that should capture the interest of volunteers who serve in a wide variety of roles.  On Saturday, October 1, there are educational tracks including Family Consumer Science, Art, Agriculture, Communications, Science, Natural Resources and some general track items such as curriculum exploration and leadership.

Holly Hoffman, Keynote

Holly Hoffman, Survivor

There will be keynote speakers to keep some steam in your volunteer engine.  Holly Hoffman will help you not only survive, but thrive as a youth volunteer or educator.  Hoffman is the author of Your Winner Within and was a contestant on the Survivor television show.  Hoffman teaches how to focus thoughts, emotions and energy to succeed.  She offers encouragement and optimism and lays the tracks for self-discovery and enlightenment.  She will be the keynote speaker on October 2, as well as teaching one of the workshops on Saturday called, Lead Simply. 

Be sure to get your ticket on the Track to Volunteer Success. Contact MSU Extension in Teton County for more details or look online at www.montana4H.org.  Consider this message your first boarding call.  Thank you to all of you out there who are the conductors and engineers of educational opportunities for youth in our communities.  We appreciate the tracks you are laying with youth as they are fundamental to our future. 

The Power of 10 -- Decades!

This year is the celebration of 100 years of Montana State University Extension.  Because MSU Extension has a long tradition of meeting community needs, we would like to challenge you to celebrate the Power of 10 with us!  We’ve been serving Montanans for 10 decades. Can you give 10 minutes a day or 10 hours between September 10 and October 10 to serve your community to help us celebrate? 

Below is a list of ways for you to serve your community.  Please share with us what you plan to do or what you complete between September 10 and October 10!  We are capturing the results.  Take a picture to send us, post a comment on this blog, drop us a note or email to let us know what you did.  If you want, wear MSU Blue and Gold while you serve!  What you do today may matter in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 years or 10 decades.  Be the Power of 10 with MSU Extension!

1. Help someone weed their yard
2. Bake someone dinner who needs it
3. Donate food to a food pantry
4. Pick up trash
5. Think of someone who needs to be taken to lunch and do it
6. Give someone a ride who needs it
7. Volunteer to drive someone to and from a medical appointment
8. Volunteer at the library
9. Read to somebody
10. Rake someone’s yard
11. Help at an animal rescue center
12. Donate to a local thrift store
13. Reinforce a creek bed (call Extension Office for details)
14. Offer to paint the exterior of a house that needs it
15. Offer to haul off large items, such as refrigerators or abandoned vehicles
16. Teach a child a skill
17. Volunteer to do activities at Bee Hive Homes, nursing homes, Skyline Lodge
18. Shovel a sidewalk
19. Trim a tree that obstructs walkers on sidewalks
20. Do some random act of kindness daily
21. Leave positive, encouraging notes where people will see them
22. Call someone you’ve been thinking of
23. Check in on an elderly neighbor
24. Walk someone across the street
25. Deliver groceries to someone who needs
26. Volunteer at the school – make copies, read to a child, help a teacher, clean or organize
27. Pay for the person behind you at the drive thru
28. Leave a gift for someone in a random public place such as on a park bench, at a bus stop, the library, a coffee house, or restaurant
29. Praise someone at work for a job well done 
30. Volunteer at a homeless shelter
31. Stop and listen when someone needs to talk
32. Organize a clothing drive
33. Teach someone a new technology or skill
34. Take a petting zoo to a nursing home
35. Send a thank you note or expression of gratefulness to someone who has made a difference to you
36. Help people register to vote
37. Thank a service worker or volunteer – ambulance, fire fighters, law enforcement, etc.
38. Help a family with young children
39. Make freezer meals for a shut-in
40. Start an effort to help an individual or a group
41. Help someone declutter their world
42. Offer to babysit for free for a family or public meeting 
43. Plant a tree or flowers in a neglected area 
44. Help winterize a home
45. Shop for someone who is homebound or ill, especially in bad weather.
46. Smile at someone
47. The next time you have exceptional service make sure to tell the person’s manager 
48. Donate your used books and/or magazines to a local library
49. Adopt a “grand-friend”
50. Clean the gutters or wash windows for a senior citizen
51. Write a letter to an older person
52. Forgive someone who has wronged you
53. Give a presentation to a classroom of students on your occupation or an area of interest that you are passionate about
54. Send a care package to a college student or someone else in transition
55. Donate your expertise to someone in need
56. Volunteer to deliver meals for senior centers
57. Stick up for a person who has been treated wrongly
58. Let someone, who only has a few items, go ahead of you in the checkout line of the grocery store
59. Invite someone new for dinner such as a neighbor, co-worker, friend, or family member.
60. Welcome a new resident to the community
61. Run an errand for someone in need
62. Play a game with somebody
63. Organize a group to address a community need
64. Get permission from an owner of an empty lot and do something to beautify it
65. Fix a sidewalk
66. Beautify your area or help someone else
67. Erect a fountain or some other monument in a town center
68. Raise funds to improve a public building
69. Put out a park bench or chairs to create a welcoming space
70. Donate money to support someone’s music or art lessons
71.  Teach a class
72. Donate garden produce to someone who would appreciate it
73. Think about what your community needs in the next 100 years and work toward one thing
74. Teach a dance class
75. Shop at a local family-owned business
76. Start an adult literacy program
77. Get certified in CPR and first aid
78. Join a civic organization
79. Find an important cause and volunteer
80. Recruit someone new to your community organization
81. Provide healthy snacks for a classroom
82. Carpool somewhere
83. Adopt a “grand-child”
84. Exercise with someone
85. Encourage the discouraged
86. Donate money or time to a local charity
87. Give blood
88. Sign up to train to volunteer as an EMT or fire fighter
89. Organize a neighborhood library box, where you put books you’ve enjoyed and leave them for others to take.  A “give and take” library that builds neighborhood connections
90. Collect aluminum cans or other recyclables and donate money to a favorite charity
91. Clean up a river or creek bed
92. Organize a nature education and adventure walk
93. Organize a bike check and bike safety education program
94. Organize a child-safety car seat check
95. Interview older people and record their history, share with community and family
96. Make fleece blankets to donate to those in need
97. Help gather and catalogue copies of historic photos from your community
98. Campaign for better marked cross walks
99. Help correct problem areas where water and ice buildup creating walking hazards
100. Keep going with the power of 10 – Try to do 10 minutes a day of service to others or 10 hours a month serving your community in some way