A 37-year-veteran of the Iowa State Extension office was recently awarded for his achievements, contributions and dedication to the department.

Donald Goering, Iowa State Extension state 4-H youth development specialist, received the Extension’s Meritorious Service Award for significant achievements and educational contributions to clientele and dedication to duty and the mission of ISU Extension.

Goering was honored for his quiet and caring leadership style, which according to a press release, provides a comfortable outlet for staff and volunteers to express their concerns.

“Part of my responsibility is working with adult leaders and helping train them and working with them as they train other leaders,” Goering said. “I get a lot of satisfaction out of that.”

Goering’s enthusiasm for children is apparent in a number of projects he has established, including the Child Protection Policy, which is used by 4-H to screen potential staff members and volunteers who work with children.

“Young kids are very vulnerable,” Goering said.

Goering, with the help of others in Iowa who are involved with youth, formed a task force to create the Child Protection Policy, which was implemented in 1996.

According to the policy, Goering said applicants who wish to work with children must answer a series of questions about their past.

The applicants are asked to complete a form which allows the release of all records from the Department of Transportation, Department of Criminal Investigation and the Sex Offender Registry. Applicants are also expected to supply three non-relative references.

“What we’re saying is kind of a sad indictment of today’s society that we have to do this to protect our kids,” Goering said.

The purpose of the Child Protection Policy is to prevent criminals from making contact with and harming children through 4-H activities.

As a boy, Goering was a member of 4-H. Then, when his son turned 9, they started the Ames Building Beavers 4-H Club.

Goering served as a club leader for nine years.

Goering said 4-H is not just for “farm kids.”

“That is one of the big perceptions that we continually fight,” he said. Only a quarter of all 4-H members have rural backgrounds, he said. The remaining three quarters are from towns and cities of varying sizes.

“It’s not just cows and cookin’,” Goering said.