Ever hear about this organization? Heifer International Foundation...

[Gin]

I got information from them..it looks like a good idea...googled the names of the board...but don't see anything that would turn me off.

Any info on this organization?

www.heifer.org

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Great organization!!

I worked at a Heifer farm in Massachussets a number of years ago, and had a great experience, and ever since have been a supporter of what Heifer does.

They provide animals to poor people all over the world, and teach the people how to use the animals for food, work, wool, milk, whatever, depending on the animal, in ways that they can become self-sustaining. That is, provide cows to provide milk for the family, maybe even enough to sell; provide rabbits to use as fur and food, but teach the people not to eat all the rabbits at once, but let them reproduce, same with pigs, sheep, goats, etc.

Extreme animal rightists might be disgusted, but Heaifer is all about helping people be self-sustaining in rural, poverty-stricken areas.

Heaifer Project is like the Habitat for Humanity of the farm world, and ahs an equal amount of integrity and honesty and helpfulness.

[gratuitous]

2. Heifer Project International

Begun in the aftermath of World War II by Dan West of the Church of the Brethren. Along with the Quakers and the Mennonites, the Church of the Brethren is one of the historic peace denominations whose founder, Alexander Mack, equated all war with sin.

During WWII, West and some of his cohorts were touring the war-ravaged areas of Italy, and decided that something had to be done to alleviate the suffering of the population. Starting with the symbolic airlift of one cow (named Faith) to Europe, West began the Heifer Project, bringing livestock to people impoverished by the war to help them back to self-sufficiency.

In addition to supplying stock (whether it's cows or ducks or goats or sheep or bees), Heifer Project also follows through with training in animal husbandry and setting people up so that they can succeed on their own. For that person who has everything on your holiday gift list, you can give a hive of bees to a farmer who needs them to cross-pollinate his crop for a mere $30. Or a share of a goat for $10 (or a full gift for $120), which will produce healthful milk for a family, and enough milk to spare to sell to other villagers, making that family self-sufficient.

In case you're wondering, yes, I'm Church of the Brethren, and very proud of the incredible work Heifer Project does all over the world. It long ago outgrew its Brethren beginnings, but the project and the spirit are in the finest traditions of Christian giving, and well worth your donations.

Humorous side story about Heifer Project's early days: Dan West and a group of investors went back to Italy after the war to check up on how folks were doing. In village after village, the success of the people in re-taking control of their lives was recounted, and the offspring from the original animals were proudly displayed. Sadly, the original animals were unavailable, having met with tragedy: A fall into a ditch or a collision with a car or some other deadly happenstance. The delegation moved on, but some of their follow-up group found out the real reason. The people thought that Heifer Project was there to take back the original animals, so they hid them away, not wanting to be parted from animals that had given them their lives back. They were reassured that the animals they'd been given were truly theirs and no one was going to take them back.

[Gin]

4. Great...thanks for the info....what a nice Christmas present to send....

on behalf of one family (mine) to another...for a whole cow...

I have found a new charity.

Gin

[populistmom]

3. I've heard of it

I'm Methodist and my church has done some service projects involving this. As far as I know, it's a pretty decent organization.

[myrna minx]

5. My family has decided to give money to Heifer

instead of exchanging Christmas presents this year. Its a great foundation. Another great one is :
http://www.womenforwomen.org/

[Gin]

6. thanks....

gin

[amazona]

7. bump

thanks for answering these questions -- sounds like a good group.

[grannylib]

8. wonderful organization; have raised funds for them before, and given

gifts to them in honor of my kids for birthdays and whatnot.

[wickerwoman]

9. I bought a goat for them last year.

It's a great organization run on the "teach a person to fish and they eat for life" principle.

I was slightly turned off by what seemed an excessively overt religious element to it (I'm hoping it's 'Here have this goat and make your lives better' and not 'We'll give you a goat when we see you in church and by the way condoms, baaaad.') I decided to give anyway because I had the extra cash and really wanted to help any way I could. If there was a secular Heifer International I'd probably apply to work there.

They also got a nod in an episode of West Wing.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. There was a strong religious motivation behind the starting of Heifer,

and I'm sure many who are involved in it have strong religious motivation driving them to be involved, but heifer itself does not push or stress religion in their helping of people.

One could say it's a Christian organization since it was founded in Christian love, but it isn't "evangelical"; it's quite secular in its helping.

When I worked the Heifer farm in Mass., there was onstensibly some Christian component to the community life of the full-time volunteers, and some Christian symbology to be found, but in a very small, subtle way, and never overbearing or inappropriate. I was there with a church group, and if memory serves, of the full-time summer volunteers, maybe only one or two are what one would call obviously/definitely Christian, and even for them their faith informed their mission, as opposed to their mission being to shove Chrsitianity on others (that is, no more obviously or forcefully Christian than we were, or that I am)

Hope that helps, and makes sense.

[wickerwoman]

11. It does help and make sense.

Thanks.

I was reading "The Poisonwood Bible" last year around Christmas when I gave the goat so maybe I was a little paranoid about the intentions of the organization. As long as they aren't evangelical, I'm proud to support them.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Good - thank you!

And if you really want to have fun, donate a week of your time and work on a farm. We got to milk goats, move chickens around, and sadly, being Mass., we spent a lot of time moving rocks out of a field they wanted to use to grow crops. Of course, I'm a farmboy, and our youth group kids had some outdoors experience being from a small town in WI, so I'd been around animals and butchered and milked before (though never milked a goat before then!) but still, it was cool.

I'd imagine for true city kids, it would be a total hoot!

They take volunteers year round. You'll pay for and cook your own food, and i think there is a fee to be a volunteer, but it's well worth it.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. They're building their new headquarters on the Clinton Library

site (or next to it) in Little Rock. Great organization and idea.