Shelly McPhee of West Fargo is the winner of a Case IH Scout utility vehicle in the North Dakota 4-H Foundation’s 2013 statewide fundraising raffle.

McPhee has been involved with 4-H since she was a youth, when she won the National Wool Growers Award for a wool jacket and skirt she made. Now she is a leader of the Clover Friends 4-H Club in West Fargo.

“My favorite part is seeing how excited the kids are and their eagerness to learn,” she says.

Her husband, Kevin, also is a 4-H leader, and her daughter, Mariah, is a 4-H member.

“My favorite part of 4-H is that moment at the fair when I get to see how I did,” Mariah McPhee says. “I actually got grand champion in entomology at the North Dakota State Fair this year.”

She is excited her mom won the Scout. She jokes that she’ll use the vehicle to pull the mower out of the mud when her mother gets it stuck, or they may drive it in a parade with their 4-H club.

Kevin McPhee, pulse crop breeder and a professor in North Dakota State University’s Plant Sciences Department, also is looking forward to using the Scout.

The Case IH Roughrider dealer network of North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota sponsor the raffle, which raised $24,000. The funds will be used to support 4-H programs across the North Dakota.

Jay Opoien, complex manager for network member Titan Machinery in Casselton, is happy the Roughrider dealer group is able to support 4-H.

“4-H teaches kids responsibility and a good work ethic,” he says. “My grandkids show American D’aquitaine Blonde cattle in 4-H, and the whole family gets involved.”

This is the third year the North Dakota 4-H Foundation has held the raffle. The foundation is 4-H’s private-sector, nonprofit partner.

“The raffle helps raise financial resources and awareness about what 4-H has to offer youth today and the work of the foundation to support 4-H programs,” says Cheryl Kuhn, the foundation’s executive director. “We are grateful for our partnership with Case IH and the Roughrider dealer group. Their donation of the Scout the last three years has resulted in more than $80,000 in support for 4-H youth programming at the statewide and county levels. I also thank every person who bought tickets and our 4-H families.”

For more information about North Dakota 4-H activities, go to http://www.ndsu.edu/4h.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Dec. 6, 2013