As of this week, because of budget cuts, King County is the only county in Washington not funding its local 4-H club. It is only one of a 11 counties in the country which have pulled their support for the youth program.

You recognize the 4-H kids when you see them. They are the kids showing off their bunnies, cows, and horses at the local fair. Kids like a young Kim Giglio in the eastern Oregon town of Hermiston.

“My fondest memories were all wrapped around the county fair and showing my horse,” said Giglio.

But the stereotype of 4-H kids that you might have, of farm kids doing farm things, isn’t reality.

4-H teaches a lot more than you might realize, life skills like public speaking, accounting, writing, responsibility, and the value of community service. It took young Kim Giglio from Hermiston to a magazine job in New York City.

“I learned to set goals,” she said. “I learned to speak in public. I learned critical thinking skills and good writing skills which went on to be my career. I learned to deal with success. I learned to deal with defeat, hopefully with grace, and good sportsmanship.”

They also teach the value of the journey, not just the destination.

4-H serves 10,000 kids in King County, and Giglio said many of the programs have nothing to do with agriculture.

“We have a robotics program here in King County,” she said. “We have cooking. We have sewing. We have leadership. We have a program called ‘Know Your Government’ that teaches kids about government. If a child has an interest, we can wrap the 4-H program around that interest.”

Giglio currently co-leads Mounted Mischief, a 4-H horse club in King County. She said it’s kept a lot of troubled and at-risk kids on the right track.

“I know that some of them have gone on to lead very productive lives because of the 4-H program,” Giglio said. “I really believe it’s saved them from some really bad outcomes.”

It costs King County about a $100,000 a year to fund the program. That’s $10 a kid. The Washington State University Extension service has donated enough money to keep the program going until September, but the club is being told to close-up its operation.