4 H, Rutgers Co Op extension, & Rowan Upward Bound

4 H Program

The Healthy Habits Food Loss and Waste program is a free, fully in-person experiential learning program that builds on existing initiatives such as Guardians of the Food Galaxy Curriculum and Junior Master Composters to reduce household food waste while empowering youth. Healthy Habits has a wide reach across 6 counties throughout the state (Atlantic, Burlington, Essex, Hudson, Morris, and Passaic Counties) as a multi-week afterschool or classroom education program for youth ages 10-18 to engage with strategies to reduce food waste through compost and community action. Youth engage in hands-on experiences to learn about food systems, food waste reduction, environmental impacts, and composting while building leadership and teamwork skills. They complete 10-12 hours in a service project that tackles waste reduction in their community (e.g. maintaining a small-scale compost system) and receive support in teaching other community members about minimizing food waste.

Rutgers Co Op Extension

This cooperative Extension is a unique collaboration between Rutgers and the Department of Agriculture. As the community outreach arm of the University, our goal is to help the diverse populations across the state of New Jersey to adapt to a rapidly changing society, improve lives, and nourish communities through educational programs that are science based.

Understanding the relationship among our lifestyle, the food we eat and where it comes from, and even our finances is a key component of good health. Cooperative Extension, addresses diverse unmet issues of nutrition and health, from teaching our most vulnerable residents about healthy eating on a budget, to programs that promote health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.

Rowan Upward Bound

The Upward Bound (UB) Program provides fundamental support to participants in their preparation for college entrance. The program provides opportunities for participants to succeed in their precollege performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from institutions of postsecondary education with a bachelor’s degree.

The mission of the Rowan University Upward Bound is to serve low income, and first generation  high school students within the Camden city. Upward Bound provides a rigorous academic curriculum that will enable our students to graduate high school, enroll, and compete postsecondary education with a bachelor's degree. It is our duty in the UB program to motivate our students to excel and thrive in their academic journey to success.

The main goal of the program is to support the advancement high scchool students into and through higher education to complete thier first bacclauraeate degree.