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Shank and Caudill both completed projects in rocketry, electricity, market rabbits and rifles as members of the 4-H program.
“It's a tragic outcome and one we never want to have to deal with. Our 4-H'ers are just as much our family as our own kids,” said 4-H Youth Development Educator, Cassie Dietrich in a prepared statement.
“We see them at schools, camps, in the office throughout the summer and at fair. We watch them grow up. It's just heartbreaking."
Volunteers will be raising a group of market rabbits to be shown at the 2019 Junior Fair, something Shank and Caudill had planned to do.
The rabbits will then be sold in the livestock sale on July 26. Initial plans are that the money raised through the sale of the rabbits will be used to help the family cover medical, funeral and burial expenses.
Anything beyond those expenses will then be put into a 4-H project support fund in their names.
“"We want to help this family see Dalton and Landin's projects through and we have a lot of volunteers coming to the table to help make that happen,"Dietrich said.
For more information about the 4-H program’s effort to honor Shank and Caudill, contact Dietrich at 937-498-7243.
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