'Substantial' Donation Left For 4-H Camp

LAKE PLACID - Camp Cloverleaf, Highlands County 4-H's overnight camp, got a surprise -- and what is described as a "substantial" financial gift -- from a donor that will benefit 4-H children in the county and the state.

That's the assessment of John Alleyne, director of the Highlands County Extension Service, of the gift left in the will of a wealthy man who recently passed away.

Kristin Bird, coordinator of 4-H Resources and Alumni Affairs at the University of Florida in Gainesville, agreed.

She said the amount of the gift is "substantial," but it could not be released publicly for at least two to three weeks, if at all.

Mike Waldron, who is on the board of directors of the Highlands County 4-H Clubs Foundation, said the donation will greatly benefit the 4-H children from Highlands County and around the state who use Camp Cloverleaf, on the shores of Lake Francis, for weeklong summer camps.

Waldron will be one of about a dozen people who will be on a conference phone call June 18 to start discussions to nail down exactly how the money can be used.

In that June 18 conference call, Waldron will participate not as a local 4-H official, but in his new role as president-elect of the statewide Florida 4-H Foundation.

"The gentlemen - and his name has not been disclosed to me - left a substantial amount to be used to benefit Camp Cloverleaf and the kids in 4-H who use this camp," Waldron said Thursday at the camp, where he met with Alleyne and Steve Cooper to discuss the gift.

"There are many areas at the camp that could benefit from this gift," Waldron continued. "Personally, some of the uses I would like to see it go to, once it is put in an endowment, are two things.

"It could be used to improve the facilities and the infrastructure. And it also could be used for educational purposes.

"What is for sure," Waldron concluded, "is that whatever uses it does go to, it will help make sure that this camp operates in perpetuity."

Cooper, who has been the manager/resident director of Camp Cloverleaf for 22 years, will be in on the June 18 conference call, as will Bird, Alleyne and members of the Florida 4-H Foundation board of directors.

The 50-acre camp, with overnight accommodations for about 150 people, is on the verge of starting the summer 4-H camps. About 125 4-H members stay for one week, every week through the summer, Cooper said.

"Each week, they (4-H campers) come from a different county," Cooper said.

Bird said she hopes the uses of the financial gift will be decided during the June 18 conference call. If that doesn't happen, she said, more conference calls will be set up.

Alleyne said he was both grateful for and surprised by the amount of this donation, especially in these tough economic times when money for schools and youth programs is hard to come by.

"I am one who believes," Alleyne said, "that the youth of our county and of our state and of the world are the foundation of the future of agriculture and the future of society."

Bird and Waldron both said they hope the gift will help Camp Cloverleaf draw in more non-profit, government, school and business groups to use the camp when the 4-H summer camps are not in session.

All income from rentals of the camp go to benefit the camp, Cooper said.