Healthy Lifestyles

The Rapides 4-H Teen Leader club and Teens In Action club have been working on healthy lifestyles as their service-learning projects. The 4-H'ers have done the following service activities that help promote well-being both physically and mentally this past fall.

1. Hand-washing stations at the Parish Fair and in the 4-H Barnyard Nursery

2. Manned education stations at the Parish Fair and taught lessons related to AgAwareness and their food supply (Healthy lifestyles too!)

3. Manned education stations at the local TREEHOUSE Museum where they made thank-you cards and put together healthy snack packets for hospitalized veterans

4. Marched in the Veterans Day parade to say thanks to the many military in their area (thanks for their service and to help lift the spirits of hospitalized veterans who watch the parade from the hospital)

5. Assisted at annual 4-H Holiday workshops with lessons on character education -- made cards of thanks to donate to lonely people

6. Volunteered at the local regional level Food Bank to sort, pack and stack the collected goods from the parish and areawide food drive

In addition, they will be doing bell ringing for the Salvation Army this coming Monday, and they are donating items to a local church’s “Soft Christmas” program (they make care packages for senior citizens). In addition they are donating toys to the LSU-A campus police toy drive.

The 4-H'ers are learning that while physical health is important, so is the mental state of a person. Many people don’t feel they are worth much, and the 4-H'ers are working to teach & learn about mental well-being. The kids are learning that a kind word, a pat on the back and a small token of appreciation can make the difference in a person’s day.