A new multipurpose facility is taking shape at the North Dakota 4-H Camp near Washburn, and the camp’s dining center and three cabins are undergoing major renovation.

But the project has a ways to go. The North Dakota 4-H Foundation is looking for your financial support to complete the project with new indoor and outdoor furnishings, equipment and program amenities.

The foundation kicked off its “Paving the Way to a New Destiny” fundraising campaign today. The goal is to raise $400,000.

“All of these improvements will help enhance our learning environment, increase our capacity to accommodate larger youth groups, provide access to people of all abilities and ensure a safe camping facility,” says Brad Cogdill, chair of North Dakota State University’s Center for 4-H Youth Development.

Donors can choose to provide funding for furniture such as bunks or other furnishings in the cabins, seating for small groups in several areas, and tables and chairs for the dining hall and the new facility, named the Johnsrud 4-H Education Center.

Donors also can sponsor the development or renovation of program amenities including a chapel, two arenas, crafts shack, basketball court, animal shelter and small pasture or storage buildings, as well as additions such as a multidiscipline shooting range, pavilion, fishing pond, high-ropes course, and walking and riding trails.

Patio paver bricks are another option. Each donation of $100 or more will add a paver brick to patios being created adjacent to the Johnsrud 4-H Education Center and dining room. The 4- by 8-inch bricks can be engraved to honor, memorialize, celebrate or thank friends, family and supporters.

Donors already have played a major part in funding the new facility and building renovations, providing $1.4 million. The state Legislature provided another $950,000 in the NDSU Extension Service’s 2013-15 budget.

“A number of generous private donors made large contributions to the construction and renovation phase of this project,” North Dakota 4-H Foundation Chairwoman Leann Schafer says. “This campaign is a great opportunity for the 4-H community and its supporters statewide to help us finish something so positive by donating money for the indoor and outdoor furnishings and equipment needed.”

The 84-acre camp is along the banks of the Missouri River near Fort Mandan, where explorers Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1804. The camp began as the Western North Dakota 4-H Camp in 1967, one of two regional 4-H camps. Now it is the sole statewide 4-H camp facility.

Research shows that a 4-H camp experience has a positive impact on the participants’ social, personal and educational growth. It also increase awareness of environmental issues and interest in the outdoors, develops leadership skills and influences career decisions.

For information on how to donate to the camp project, contact the North Dakota 4-H Foundation at (701) 231-8569 or ndsu.4-H@ndsu.edu, or visit http://www.ndsu.edu/4h/camp/camp_renovation/.

Work at the camp is scheduled to be completed April 30.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - March 13, 2015