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Illinois 4-HACES@Illinois aces.illinois.eduHonoring a family who “bleeds green”Members of the J. Miles and MaribelMcGrew family of McDonough County havebeen connected to Extension and 4-H formultiple generations. The McGrews werehonored with the Illinois 4-H Foundation2013 Family Spirit Award.Miles’ and Maribel’s 11 children all wereinvolved in 4-H, and over the years, 17 spouses,31 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, andtwo great-great-grandchildren have been partof 4-H in seven states.One son, Jim McGrew, served as a 4-Hleader for 35 years and in 2006 was inductedinto the Illinois 4-H Hall of Fame. Jim’s eldestdaughter, Judy, made 4-H a part of her career,serving as a 4-H youth development educatorwith University of Illinois Extension for 22years. She developed multiple programmaterials and trained more than 20,0004-H youth, volunteers, and professionals.The McGrew family said their involvementin 4-H and Extension has affected them ininnumerable ways, teaching them teamwork,leadership, and communication skills. Theylearned practical information that could beapplied to everyday situations and economicprinciples that provided them with tools tosucceed. It has helped them build strong,responsible families, whose members have goneon to careers including Illinois staterepresentative, nurse, teacher, business owner,farmer, school superintendent, physicaltherapist, music therapist, and EMT. Othershave served, or are serving, in the Army, Navy,Air Force, Marines, and National Guard.“With 90 4-H family members in fivegenerations, the McGrew family symbolizes afamily that ‘bleeds green!’” said Angie Barnard,director of the Illinois 4-H Foundation. “Thefoundation thanks them for their contributionsto the 4-H program over the years. This familysignifies what it means to ‘Make the BestBetter.’”“It Can Wait,” urges 4-HIllinois 4-H partnered with AT&Tduring August and September in the“It Can Wait” campaign, as its membersencouraged drivers to take the pledge notto text while driving.Illinois 4-H members asked drivers tohelp make the state safer and to savelives by sending Illinois 4-H a simple textmessage to signal their commitment.“It’s a small way to make a big difference,”said Angie Barnard, executive directorfor the Illinois 4-H Foundation.When AT&T approached Illinois 4-Habout a partnership during the monthlonginitiative to curb distracted driving,Barnard said, leaders saw it as a “perfectfit” in meeting 4-H’s goal to promoteadvocacy skills among its members.AT&T presented these facts in theeffort to end texting and driving:• More than 100,000 crashes a yearinvolve drivers who are texting(Source: National Safety Council)• 75 percent of teens say texting anddriving is “common” among theirfriends (Source: AT&T WirelessSurvey)• 97 percent of teen drivers say textingwhile driving is dangerous—yet 43percent admit to doing it (Source:AT&T Teen Driver Survey)“The members of Illinois 4-H werecommitted to making a difference in the ‘ItCan Wait’ campaign, as we encouragedfriends and family members to take thepledge to never text and drive,” saidBarnard. “We were excited to spread themessage through the state with our23,000 members in 1,250 4-H clubs.”Representatives from Illinois 4-H andAT&T Illinois, as well as state representativeNaomi Jakobsson, spoke at a pressconference on September 19, which wasthe national “Drive 4 Pledges Day” in thecampaign.6