COLUMBUS – Tiney McComb, president of Heartland Bank, feels he has much to give back to the program that significantly impacted his life as a 9-year-old boy growing up on a farm.
“I began my 4-H tenure as a 9-year-old,” McComb said. “I’ve been involved in 4-H almost 50 years. All of the members of my family, my wife and kids, were in 4-H. I personally believe I owe a lot to the organization for skills it gave me as a youngster. It’s pay-back time for me. That’s why I stay involved.”
Now, McComb, who met his wife at 4-H camp, is helping another generation see the benefits of 4-H as he fills out membership forms with his 9-year-old grandson.
The pledge. McComb and his wife Helena, along with his bank based in Gahanna, Ohio, pledged $50,000 to the new Ohio 4-H Center to be built on the OSU campus in Columbus.
The center is being built to give 4-H a home, in part as a celebration of 100 years of 4-H in Ohio, and as the organization prepares for yet another century with increasing program offerings, technology and membership.
“I sort of lived 4-H,” he said. “Growing up on a farm, 4-H was a vehicle to help me do many, many things. It’s a tremendous builder of self-esteem in young people. It was wonderful times, and I was so fortunate to have many great mentors.”
In fact, McComb believes in membership so much that he almost always asks potential employees during interviews if they were a 4-H member.
