“Heifer International is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability.”
I love doing this blog because every week, I learn about organizations and people who truly make a difference. Some weeks, I discuss organizations with which I’m pretty familiar. This week, I’m highlighting an organization I’d never heard of until my friend Michael sent its link my way. Heifer International fits perfectly under the theme of this blog as it produces ripples around the world. Its motto is “pass on the gift.”
I asked Michael to help me with this post and he graciously obliged. Based on the website, he wrote the following:
A Four-Footed Attack Against Hunger
A Midwestern farmer named Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when it hit him. "These children don't need a cup, they need a cow." West returned home to form Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training.
In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families whose malnourished children had never even tasted milk.
Heifers are young cows that haven't yet given birth – making them perfect not only for supplying a continued source of milk, but also for supplying a continued source of support. That's because each family receiving a heifer agrees to "pass on the gift" and donate the female offspring to another family, so that the gift of food is never-ending.
Since 1944, there have been 13.6 million families helped directly or indirectly —more than 70.5 million men, women and children. In 2009 Heifer International helped 1.63 million families.
The program has expanded to include ducks, geese and chicks as well as sheep, llamas, rabbits, goats, water buffalo, bees and other animals. For as little as $20 you can help a family on their way to self-sufficiency.
A Midwestern farmer named Dan West was ladling out rations of milk to hungry children during the Spanish Civil War when it hit him. "These children don't need a cup, they need a cow." West returned home to form Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training.
In 1944, the first shipment of 17 heifers left York, Pennsylvania, for Puerto Rico, going to families whose malnourished children had never even tasted milk.
Heifers are young cows that haven't yet given birth – making them perfect not only for supplying a continued source of milk, but also for supplying a continued source of support. That's because each family receiving a heifer agrees to "pass on the gift" and donate the female offspring to another family, so that the gift of food is never-ending.
Since 1944, there have been 13.6 million families helped directly or indirectly —more than 70.5 million men, women and children. In 2009 Heifer International helped 1.63 million families.
The program has expanded to include ducks, geese and chicks as well as sheep, llamas, rabbits, goats, water buffalo, bees and other animals. For as little as $20 you can help a family on their way to self-sufficiency.
To learn more about Heifer Project International, here is the link: www.heifer.org
How can we get involved?
-the website has a “get involved” tab as well as “gift” tab
-you can buy an animal (or part of one) on someone’s behalf for a gift. Come on, if someone bought a goat or llama on your behalf, you know you would never forget that!
-you can make a donation under the heading “where most needed”
-you can help fund a project
We know there is plenty of food to feed everyone in this world yet so many people are starving. Although it sounds silly, the topic makes me think of the children's song by Raffi because it seems it could be resolved rather simply if we took the lyrics to heart.
“It’s mine but you can have some. With you I’d like to share it. ‘Cause if I share it with you, you’ll have some too.”~Raffi
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