Seed sale to help Butler 4-H clubs
In the basement of the Penn State Extension office, the “seeds” of this summer's flower beds and vegetable gardens are being planted.
More accurately, the seeds are being gathered up and mailed out to people by the Butler County 4-H, with the Penn State Extension, to make some money after a summer of canceled fundraisers.
Amy Metrick, 4-H educator, and Jennifer McIntire, administrative support assistant, are filling orders for the 4-H Seed Fundraiser.The project started last fall when the Butler Rural King donated more than 14,000 seed packets to the extension.Metrick said the Butler 4-H's traditional fundraisers — the petting zoo at the Big Butler Fair, livestock sale at the Butler Farm Show and 4-H Benefit Auction each October — had all been derailed by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.The seed sale is a way to recoup some of the lost revenue, Metrick said.Metrick said the manager of the Butler Rural King called in November and donated unsold packets of vegetable, herb and flower seeds to the 4-H.Jeremy Parker, one of the managers at Rural King in the Clearview Mall at 101 Clearview Circle, said this is a fairly common practice for Rural King stores.“We work with the 4-H as much as possible,” he said.McIntire said Rural King has long been supportive of 4-H.Metrick and McIntire spent December sorting seeds and are ready to share them with the public.
“We can't sell them because they are dated for 2020, certified for that year,” Metrick said. “But the seeds are still viable, they will still grow. Their germination might take a little longer.”Because of that, Metrick suggests a donation of 50 cents per seed packet and a $2 handling fee to cover the postage and envelopes needed to mail the seed packets to donors.McIntire said there's a large selection from which to choose.“We have vegetables of every kind you can imagine: tomatoes, watermelon, squash, zucchini, all the things a home grower and a backyard gardener wants,” McIntire said. “The flowers come in annuals and perennials.”People can visit the Butler County 4-H Facebook page, go under the events tab to find and print out the seed sale order form.The form with check (made payable to Extension Special Account), cash or money order can be mailed to Butler County 4-H, Attn: Seed Sale, 101 Motor Pool Way, Butler, PA 16001.
Metrick said the sale will continue until all the seeds are gone.McIntire said that word-of-mouth promotion has led to 2,000 seed packets sold already, with bean seeds being the most popular selection.The 4-H hopes to raise $2,500 to $7,000 through the seed program.Metrick said part of the money would go toward paying a percentage of registration fees for 4-H members to attend state, regional and national leadership events. The money would also be put into a scholarship fund for graduating 4-H seniors.McIntire said 337 members in the 35 4-H Clubs in the county are anxious to put pandemic restrictions behind them in the coming year.“The kids are ready to go out and be active 4-H'ers again,” she said.
