As a 4-H specialist at MSU for 11 years, Harvey Gordon knows the impact the program has on the lives of the young people involved.
As state coordinator of 4-H Volunteer Leadership through the MSU Extension Service, Gordon has spent his professional career helping local volunteers provide the skills youth need to develop self-confidence and be productive citizens and leaders in their communities.
Gordon said the most important aspect of his job is helping train volunteers in the community.
"We serve about 96,000 young people in this state, and if it were not for our volunteers and the resources they provide locally, there is no way we could succeed," Gordon said.
Though he had never been involved with the youth development program prior to becoming an extension agent 32 years ago in Arkansas, he quickly developed a passion for helping young people and seeing they have every opportunity for success.
"At the end of the day, if I have made a difference in the life of a young person and a contributing adult, my living that day would not have been in vain."