Crystal Springs 4-H Club among west-central recipients of FCC grant

EAGLE STAFF

The Crystal Springs 4-H Club is one of three west-central Saskatchewan clubs that received a grant from FCC for 2025.

Forty 4-H clubs in the province received up to $500, “helping to offset program costs, support club activities and enhance learning opportunities,” a Farm Credit Canada statement said. Other 4-H clubs in the region getting similar help are at Eston and Lacadena.

The Crystal Springs club intends to use the money “to buy club clothing, so that when (members of) the different projects go to different regional and provincial shows, it’s easy to determine who all belongs together,” leader Judy White said last week.

The clothing will also “make us feel like part of a team and create a bit of unity,” White said. She expects the money to arrive in February.

Crystal Springs “used to be a light horse club for many years” but became a multiple club over about the past five years, she explained.

“We do have beef, because Ridpath Beef Club joined with us last year,” White said. Besides beef and light horse, “We just added a rodeo project this year and we have a member who doesn’t have an animal so he’s doing a computer coding project on his own,” she said.

She led “geology for those non-horse people, but I ran out of material,” White added.

Members of each project meet once a month and the club meets together four or five times a year. Registration ended in November. The club operates from September to June.

The Crystal Springs achievement days are scheduled for May 31 for beef, with a show and judging, and June 7 for the light horse and rodeo projects at the Fiske sports grounds, the day after the annual sports day, White said.

In a statement outlining the grants, new national 4-H head Christina Franc said, “Volunteers are better equipped to create engaging, safe and inclusive spaces where young people can build confidence, leadership skills and a strong connection to agriculture and their communities,” thanks to grants from FCC’s 4-H Club Fund.

Franc, who became 4-H Canada’s chief executive in early January, runs a dairy and maple sugar farm with her husband at Très-Saint-Sacrement, Que., south of Montreal.

“We’re helping local clubs deliver hands-on learning experiences that build leadership, confidence and practical skills young people will carry with them into the future,” added FCC senior executive Todd Klink of Regina.