Aug 21, 2019

burton + BURTON duo receives Lifetime Achievement Award by Georgia 4-H Foundation

Maxine and Bob Burton, founders of burton + BURTON, were honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Georgia 4-H Foundation. The Burtons’ ties to 4-H date back to their childhoods.

Growing up, Maxine was involved in 4-H in Forsyth County and participated in camps at Rock Eagle, Wahsega, and Tybee Island. Bob was a Master Gwinnett County 4-Her, active in judging events and competitions, attended summer camp at Rock Eagle, and was a counselor at Rock Eagle and Tybee Island Summer Camp while attending the University of Georgia.

In the early 2000s, a Georgia 4-H Center on Tybee Island needed extensive renovations from 57 years of weather and heavy use. Maxine and Bob Burton, 4-H alumni and avid supporters, offered assistance with a donation to the Georgia 4-H Foundation to prevent the closure of the facility.

Their gift helped underwrite such major items as electrical upgrades, new floors and wall coverings for cabins, renovation and expansion of the dining hall, improved teaching facilities, and equipment for the environmental education program. In appreciation of this generosity, the Georgia 4-H Foundation named the Tybee Island Center in honor of the Burtons in 2004.

Today, the Burton 4-H Center is open year-round and reaches more than 8,000 students and adults annually through Environmental Education and Summer Camp programs. “Bob and I are honored and humbled to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia 4-H Foundation. My fondest memories as a child were going to a Georgia 4-H camp each summer. In 8th– 9th grade, I attended Camp Chatham/Tybee Island, and little did I know I would meet a lifelong friend of 54 years. I am so fortunate to have married a 4-Her and attended Camp Chatham/Tybee Island that ultimately became the Burton 4-H Center,” said Maxine Burton, founder and president of burton + BURTON.

“It is an honor to receive this award. I believe many of my most valuable life lessons came from my involvement in 4-H. When the opportunity came to give back, Maxine and I knew we wanted to support an organization that did so much for us as well as affect the next generation of 4-H members,” said Bob Burton, CEO of burton + BURTON.