The awards season is here, and we at Heifer International are beyond delighted to accept this nomination!
This week we learned that we’re finalists for a min Best of the Web Award for work on our brand new tablet edition of World Ark magazine. min, short for Media Industry News, is a resource for magazine and media professionals to learn about the latest trends in the field. Heifer is a finalist in the digital magazine category, competing against the likes of dash magazine, EBONY.com, EE Times, Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Popular Science and WIRED.
World Ark, the quarterly print magazine for Heifer donors and anyone interested in hunger and poverty, has had an online presence for years. But in December of 2012 we launched an interactive tablet edition for iPads and Androids that incorporates news from the field, facts about development work around the world and ways readers can get involved, along with dynamic, gorgeous design by the talented screen wizards at Bates Creative. This tablet version is free and available on the App Store or on Google Play. The Spring 2013 edition should be available within the week.
Here’s a sneak peek of the cover of the Spring tablet edition.
Sure, we’re new to this scene and just beginning to get a handle on the amazing new ways we can reach, inform and inspire readers via a tablet format. But we’re hopeful this nomination will help us spread the word about the brilliant and hardworking Heifer project partners that we feature in each issue.
Every week we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss and his Worldbuilders team came to visit Heifer International headquarters in Little Rock and Heifer Ranch in Perryville. While here he talked to a reporter from the Arkansas Times, who wrote up this great story about the visit and about the Worldbuilders’ successful fundraising efforts.
Congrats to Broward County Public Schools Nova High School teacher Shawna Morgan, this year’s Florida Economic Educator of the Year. A human geography teacher, Morgan and her students supported various international causes including Heifer International.
John Savitski AIA, blogger for Traverse 360 Architecture happened up Heifer International headquarters and shares his photos and thoughts.
Photo credit: Coop d’Hill
More than a dozen poultry raisers opened their coops to visitors on May 18, with donations received during the tours going to help end hunger through Heifer. What a great way to learn about raising chickens and Heifer International.
Congrats to Dr. Trevor Tomkins, who has been active with Heifer International as a board member and the Heifer Foundation. He was recently honored with the 2013 Distinguished Service Award for his life-long contributions to the feed industry by the American Feed Industry Association.
Vice President of Heifer’s Africa Program, Elizabeth Bintliff, talks with dowser about the East Africa Dairy Project, which recently received $8.5 million from the Gates Foundation.
The Rotary Youth hope to purchase an ark through Heifer International, which includes a pair of each animal, and have held many fundraisers this year to accomplish their goal, such as Rotaraking, helping with tours, and their latest event, electronics recycling.
Have you checked out When Cows Fly yet? It’s an online portal where Heifer donors, volunteers and participants from around the world can share their stories. Like this fiber artist, who is using her talents to benefit others. Or Sarah Sow, who donated a gift to Heifer in honor of her mother, as well as her good friend Polly Pig’s mother. (You are curious about their names, aren’t you? Click through and find out!) Heifer Sacramento shared info about a Fun Raiser fundraiser they are holding, and a California church’s Bike-a-Thon. You can share your story, too.
Every week we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo credit: NeighborNewspapers.com
For months now, second-grade students at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School in Brookhaven, Georgia, have been doing various odds and ends, including holding lemonade sales and homemade baked cookie sales, babysat siblings, prepared lunches and cleared neighbors’ backyards. They easily surpassed last year’s total of $1,200, with $2,000.
Heifer international was mentioned as the best in three separate categories in Little Rock’s Sync Weekly Who’s the Best of the Metro: Green Business, Local Cause and Non-Profit Organization.
Photo credit: TheMaguirehouseBB.blogspot.com/
What’s happening in and around Maguire House? 100 Things to Do and See Within 100 Miles, including Heifer’s Learning Center at Overlook Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts.
Another local publication, Little Rock Soiree, featured Heifer this week in 4 Fabulous Ideas To Put a Little Spring in Your Step which shines a spotlight on Feast in the Field, a special dinner to be held May 18 to raise funds and awareness for sustainable agriculture benefiting Heifer projects in the Arkansas Delta and Nepal.
Photo credit: Longmont Suzuki Strings
Kids from ages 2 to 11, students of Longmont Suzuki Strings in Colorado, performed at a concert to benefit Heifer International on May 11. The instructor, Erron Lacy, said, “I enjoy watching the students get excited about helping others. They do it with such a pure heart and love for children across the world they will never meet. Their dedication to the benefit concert, through careful practice, is so inspiring.”
Photo credit: The Gadsden Times
“Kindergartners and elementary students at Coosa Christian School ‘raised the roof’ so their teachers would have to sit on it.” These students were part of the Coosa Coin Challenge, donating spare change to different charities chosen by each grade. The third graders chose Heifer. They beat last year’s total, raising the roof, and their reward was sending teachers and faculty up to the roof for the day.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo credit: DNRonline
Wayland Elementary School in Virginia is a very environmentally conscious school, inspired to act by a flood in the local park that destroyed many habitats. In addition to local environmental activities such as recycling, Earth Day gardening and picking up trash, and building a buffer at the park to prevent erosion, the school participates in Heifer’s Read to Feed program, raising $3,500 for projects around the world.
Photo credit: Lily Darragh, inarkansas.com
26-year-old Sam Hedges, who once worked at Heifer’s Learning Center at Overlook Farm in Massachusetts and is now the director of the nonprofit Arkansas Local Food Network, talks about the network and shopping local.
Check out these two stories submitted to When Cows Fly: These godparents had the unique (and generous) idea of buying their godson a part of a water buffalo every year on his birthday, starting this year, the year of his birth! And the Joyful Noise Gospel Choir prepares for a musical presentation that will benefit Heifer.
Photo credit: Amarillo Globe-News
Seventh graders from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Amarillo, Texas, got a glimpse of the harsh reality people around the world face every day during their annual service trip to Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. One student Milah Someham, said, “I didn’t realize how many people lived like that until now. I kept worrying all night about what I was going to eat for dinner the next day.”
Students at Morgan Twp. elementary school in Indiana have been taking part in the Read to Feed program. And, by the end of this month, school officials say they will have donated an amazing total of $12,000 to Heifer.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo credit: Liesl Den, Parents.com
An awesome post by Liesl Den on www.parents.com with even-more-awesome photos of a trip to a Heifer Global Village at Shepherd’s Spring in Maryland. Read about the family’s adventures through the Global Village, including Mozambique, a refugee camp, Thailand, Kenya, Appalachia, and Guatemala. You can also read her post about her kids’ service project, selling their own paintings to benefit Heifer.
Organizers of the Mehlville School District’s International Clubs Festival, a cultural diversity celebration that included international music, dance, foods and crafts, was a huge success with about 1,000 people attending. Festival coordinator Christina Carlisle Mendoza said, “The main thing is that we are learning about new cultures. That’s the whole point. The world is getting smaller as we go on, so the more we know about people the better it is.” Proceeds from the event, which was held in St. Louis, Missouri, are being donated to Heifer International.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photocredit: www.babyanimalfair.org
If you are near Buffalo, Minnesota, on April 21, you’ll want to check out the Baby Animal Fair, where you can learn about Heifer International’s work around the world, help fill local food shelves, and have some great family fun.
Here’s a great story about a school that embraces sustainability and believes it is important to teach to children. “One of the guiding principles at Saltonstall is to establish a school and community culture that is based in real-world connections. At Saltonstall, we strive to give students a sense of purpose and help them realize that our decisions and actions have an impact on our local community.”
Thanks to The Nest for listing Heifer among their favorite worthy causes for newlyweds to think about and get involved with.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Stamm
Several people have submitted stories on Heifer International’s online portal, When Cows Fly, a place people like you can share your own stories of engagement and impact. One family talks about their Mooved to Action fundraiser where everyone works together to make necklaces and bracelets to raise money for Heifer. Donna Stokes, World Ark editor, shares her experience on a trip to projects in Nepal, Because They Were There. Mercer Elementary Mooooves Mountains with a fundraiser/educational campaign. A longtime Heifer supporter shares her experience at one of our learning centers, and how One Visit to Heifer Ranch Brings Ever-Expanding Influence. Project participants Ana and Berta Hidalgo share their experience Selling Agroecological Products at the Market in Ecuador, thanks to generous supporters like you. Every voice is important–from donors, volunteers, congregations and schools to project participants and partners. Each story connects one more person to the solution to the scourges of hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. Each story reminds us that we can make a difference. Be part of a great idea taking wing, and submit your own story to When Cows Fly.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Twelve eighth-graders in the gifted and talented leadership class at Glenwood Middle School in Glenwood, Maryland, led successful service learning projects after reading “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens.” Austin Weider collected money for Heifer, and won a challenge by his social studies teacher to collect more than $300−and he would wear a cow suit to school. Austin collected $438, and his teacher was true to his word, wearing the bovine costume to school.
Framingham’s Plymouth Church continued its annual effort to support Heifer International with crafts, milkshakes and lessons on how sustainable living can help end hunger. Money collected through the church’s annual fair will help provide donations livestock, trees and knitting supplies to people in need. Several church members learned more about Heifer when they stayed overnight at Overlook Farm in Rutland, where guests learn firsthand what it might be like to live in a part of the world without amenities like heat, plentiful food and furniture.
This blogger and teacher recently got back from a trip with his Oklahoma University State students to Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. He writes about his stay in an “urban slum” and his thoughts on hunger and poverty. A great read and some pretty cute goat photos!
If you happen to be in Hawaii on May 4 and 5, reserve your spot at Wahiawa United Methodist Church for it’s popular tea fundraiser that supports community service organizations in the area, as well as Heifer International.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo credit: Lakewood School/West of the I
Six Lakewood School third-graders raised money for Heifer through reading. The news article explains the effort well: “With Read to Feed, students enlist sponsors who pledge donations—a dime, a quarter, a dollar a book, any amount, really. Then they read, and as they finish more books, the pledges grow higher until at the end of the program, the children gather the pledges, pool their money and donate the total collected to Heifer to use to help families build sustainable lives and to become self-reliant.” At Lakewood School, students raised $470, enough to purchase a water buffalo, a goat, a trio of rabbits, a flock of ducks, and a flock of chicks.
La Gringa wrote a blog post about some really tasty honey she used to sweeten her homemade yogurt. What’s extra special to us about this honey is that it comes from a co-op participating in a Heifer project, the Coapihl cooperative in Honduras.
First Chicago Insurance Company, Inc., through its program to donate one dollar for every new policy issued during 2012, donated close to $17,000 to six charities, including Heifer International. “Even during these challenging economic times, First Chicago Insurance Company, Inc. believes that it is important to honor our corporate responsibility by financially supporting a worthy cause,” stated John Gettemans, the company’s president.
For the second year, Cooperstown Central School’s seventh-graders raised $250 to donate to Heifer International. The money is being matched by local veterinarian Michael Powers, so they are buying a heifer for a family in need. Powers addressed the students, “When you graduate, class of 2018, you will know that this gift is still helping people.”
Connecticut’s Bethel United Methodist Church is raising money for Heifer International’s REACH project: Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti, which connects farming families, aid organizations, producers, municipalities, public-private sector partnerships and others to rehabilitate and strengthen the crop- and livestock-based livelihoods in Haiti destroyed by natural disasters. During April and May 2013, BUMC seeks to raise at least $2,000 for REACH.
Photo credit: St. Louis Today
For the 10th year in a row, Dechesne High School students donate an ark’s worth of animals in a Lenten fundraiser. ”In Lent the idea of fasting and almsgiving is at the core of what the church believes and teaches. (Heifer Project) is just a great way, we think, for students to experience for the first time, in a really cushioned way within the school community, what that spirit of giving is like,” said Alicia Bungum, Duchesne’s campus minister.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo credit: KCBD
Students at Hutchinson Middle School raised more than $5,000 for Heifer International through the Read to Feed program, and an anonymous donor came forward to match their donation for a total of $11,200 dollars. The school celebrated at a school-wide assembly, where Principal Heidi Dye, along with two other teachers, had to kiss a heifer.
Eight-year-old Austin entrepreneur and founder of Beesweet Lemonade, Mikaila Ulmer, was honored by the Capital City African American Chamber of Commerce at the 2013 Small Business Awards Gala on February 22, 2013, as the Teenpreneur of the Year. Ulmer, a third-grader from Trinity Episcopal School, donates a portion of her proceeds from her business to Heifer International, to provide disadvantaged families with bees, equipment and training in beekeeping in the hopes that they can earn income through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen.
If you happen to be near Valparaiso, Ind., check out the Open Mic Night and Concert on April 6, sponsored by the Cornerstone Youth Group and the Youth Board of Christ Lutheran Church. Admission is free, but proceeds from the sales of water and candy go to Heifer International.
The third graders from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Minnesota earned and collected $650 for Heifer International by collecting loose change and money from their families and friends, and even setting up a booth after parish masses. With their donation, they chose to donate a water buffalo, goat, pig, three rabbits, honeybees, two flocks of chicks and a flock of ducks and geese.
Photo credit: Post Independent
Students at St. Stephen’s School in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, raised more than $2,600 for Heifer International through the St. Stephen’s Parish annual Lenten season service project. Between the local church and school, nearly $7,000 was raised altogether.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
This past week, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Albany, GA, hosted a number of events including a car wash, luncheon, and barbecue dinner in an effort to raise an amount equivalent to 10 percent of its operating budget for missions it supports regionally, nationally and internationally, including Heifer International.
Photo credit: Texas to the Thames
Last month this blogger took her 6th grade daughter on a photo safari to Kenya. She writes about how her visit impressed upon her the need to make a donation to Heifer International.
Calvary’s children have been collecting money to donate to Heifer International. Ella Chipley, one of these kids, explains the effort much clearer than we ever could:
Heifer International was one of 19 nonprofits to benefit from the third annual Shiver Elk River Shiver Plunge. Nearly 80 jumpers braved the cold to raise $12,000 in pledges that go to the charity of their choosing.
A nursery, Rich’s Foxwillow Pines, known for it’s unique trees and new ideas, such as a Dr. Seuss-inspired village and a Jurassic Park creation, is taking part in the Chicago Flower & Garden show through today, March 17. Best of all, any profits they make from the show will be donated to Heifer, so if you like gardening and are in Chicago you might want to check them out.
Photo credit: Wrap It Up in Reynolds
Addison went all out for Pig Day at All Saints Episcopal School on March 1. The day of fun, which also raised money for Heifer, included a pig art contest, pig tail contest (Addison’s ‘do pictured above won for Pre-K), pig races and pig snacks. Check out the blog for more pics from the day’s activities.
Photo credit: University News
More than 80 cultures were showcased at Culture Night, hosted by UMKC’s International Student Affairs Office. Students represented their homelands with dances, songs, skits and booths, and a raffle was held with money raised from ticket sales going to Heifer. “This is their [international students] event and their ideas,” Sandy Gault, director of International Student Affairs at UMKC, said. “Raising money for charity helps them realize what they can do for others. It becomes ingrained in their minds that they can make a difference.”
Third grade students in Lucy Swecker’s class at Academy Primary School in Buckhannon raised an impressive $625.40 through Read to Feed to buy a heifer, three rabbits, a flock of chickens and a flock of ducks through Heifer. ”I am so proud of each and every one of these kids,” Swecker said. So are we.
Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School South Easton, Massachusetts, held its 2nd Annual Arts Appreciation Night with a play, robotics exhibits, student presentations and much more. The Design and Visual Communications Honors Society, in conjunction with the Innovation Academy, sold buttons to benefit Heifer International.
Heronfield Academy’s eighth graders in New Hampshire recently went well over their fundraising goal of $500 for Heifer. A matching gift allowed them to buy two cows, a Gardener’s Basket, A Flock of Hope, Tree Seedlings, and a Share of Seedlings.
Every Sunday we highlight some of the people who are funding our work creatively or helping us spread the word of our mission online. If you spot Heifer International while you’re surfing the web or know of a fun or creative fundraising effort, please share it with us here in the comments.
Photo credit: AAPS News
Burns Park teachers in Ann Arbor dressed as farm animals to kick off a fundraiser for Heifer International. Students are celebrating Reading Month this March by “reading to feed” and taking pledges to help end hunger and poverty.
Photo credit: Hernando Today
The Garbage Men, a band of five teenagers from Sarasota with instruments made of recycled materials like a cereal box guitar and glass bottle xylophone, recently played at the Rockin’ the Ranch festival at Sertoma Youth Ranch last Saturday. The group not only promotes recycling, it is helping to defeat hunger and poverty by donating all proceeds from record sales to Heifer.
Last Sunday (March 3), the Rev. Carra McFadden of Centre Congregational Church Brattlebor, Vermont, gave a sermon on “Facing Our Worldliness.” The congregation is facing its worldiness with special studies, readings, music and offerings, including the sale of Easter cards, which will benefit the mission of Heifer.
The Eta Eta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority held its 2nd annual Walk for the Health of It, and not just for the health of the walkers, but for people around the globe. Proceeds were given to Heifer, the American Kidney Fund, and a local clinic that provides medical care to the underinsured.
Boyce students and staff in Michigan hope to raise $5,000 to help families around the world, by “diving into a good book.” The school is participating in Heifer International’s Read to Feed program since March is Reading Month. Plus, some of the older students (grades 3-5) plan to write to local businesses asking for donations. One of the students said, “this can change the whole world.” We here at Heifer agree.
Congrats to Kristyn Arnold, who was a 2013 Heroes with Heart awardee for her efforts in supporting Heifer International and World Vision. The award, given by Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) in the communities of Lincoln County and Mescalero, New Mexico, celebrates local individuals and groups who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
