Ohio 4-H Highlights : November 2020

Congratulations to Pat Brundige, whose impactful donations to the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and Ohio 4-H were recognized recently with The Ohio State University’s highest award for philanthropy.

Brundige, the biggest individual benefactor in CFAES’ history, received the Everett D. Reese Medal, the university’s highest honor in recognition of her exceptional service.

Her “see a need, fill a need” philosophy led her to make numerous donations to Ohio State University Extension, particularly Ohio 4-H youth development. Over the years, she has given to the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, the state 4-H research endowment fund, and camp scholarships for Ohio Military Kids.

In 2019, the Kunz-Brundige Franklin County Extension Building opened, made possible through gifts totaling $11 million from Brundige—$5 million for the building and a $6 million estate gift for future programming. The building is the first in the transformation of CFAES’ Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory on Ohio State’s Columbus campus. Waterman is the university’s hub for teaching, research, and community engagement around food, health, agricultural production, and environmental sustainability.

Through Brundige’s gift, the Franklin County office of OSU Extension is better able to serve the community through educational programs and events for youth and adults, all from a centralized location. “Being able to dedicate the Franklin County Extension building at Waterman in memory of my parents, Fredrick and Kathryn Kunz, was a great honor,” Brundige said. “My hope is that by investing in the building and the 4-H program, I will help make the best better and enhance outreach statewide.”

In addition, the Patricia Kunz Brundige Youth Development Fund, created in 2012, supports seed grants for research in positive youth development through OSU Extension.

Brundige was honored Oct. 17 during the Ohio State Foundation Board’s Celebration of Excellence, held with family and close friends at the Kunz-Brundige building.

“You’ve just had such an incredible impact on so many lives. I want to join everyone else tonight, Pat, and offer you congratulations on this very well-deserved honor,” said Cathann A. Kress, CFAES dean and Ohio State vice president for agricultural administration.

“As I’ve come to know you over the years, as I’ve watched the impact that you’ve had, I just am so struck, Pat, by the fact that you live that commitment to the mission every single day,” Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce McPheron said.

Learn more and watch a video of the event here.

Each month we highlight an Ohio 4-H alum. They have amazing stories to share, from their personal experience in 4-H to how they have given back to the program. This month we feature India Bradford, Adams County 4-H alumna. India recently graduated from Maysville Career and Technical College with her Associates in Culinary Arts. She was inspired to pursue a career in the culinary industry after she discovered her love of cooking and baking in 4-H food and nutrition projects.

During her nine years as a 4-H member, India Bradford took a variety of projects. “I did everything from baking yeast breads to grilling and loved it all! “ she said. “One year I took a cake decorating project, which put me through three courses of cake decorating classes.” Her focus was on cooking, but she also explored different areas such as beekeeping. “I took beekeeping every year and enjoyed watching how my hives grew and changed, all while learning the intricacies of the hive with the goal of producing my own queens and nucleus hives.”

Ms. Bradford recalled her experience winning her county’s bake-off competition for the first time. “I had been participating for years, but the competition was very stiff and I never won, but I kept trying. The final bake-off for my junior year I made walnut orange chocolate chip cookies and they were amazing! When the time for the awards came and they started calling names, I knew yet again I hadn’t won. They came to reserve champion, then grand champion and my name was called. I have very little memory of walking up to get my award, because my club and family were cheering. My mom said the extension agent commented on how purely delighted I looked. I had worked to achieve this and it was amazing to see how my hard work paid off.” For the next 5 years in the senior division yeast breads competition, she was the grand champion.  

Ms. Bradford explained how 4-H impacted her life. “4-H taught me to never give up and to keep trying, because if I didn’t win one year with my project there was always the next year to try again. And if worse came to worst I could eat most of my projects, which was always a plus!”

4-H also taught her skills she used as an adult. “Through 4-H I learned valuable interview skills. Participating in pre-fair judging and talking to a judge helped me to learn how to speak clearly and describe subjects that were important to the topic at hand. I also learned how to respectfully speak to adults and authority figures. These skills helped me interview for jobs and be comfortable speaking with my culinary professors about questions or potential future jobs in the culinary industry.” 

Ms. Bradford shared this advice for 4-H youth, “Take at least one project that will benefit you in the future. For example, a food project that will teach you how to feed yourself, or a leadership project that can help you with a future career.”