Tag Archives: Beatrice’s Goat

Around the Web: Beatrice’s Goat, Father’s Day and Alpacas

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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.

Beatrice's Goat

Beatrice’s Goat

Polliwog on Safari writes up Beatrice’s Goat, a book about Beatrice, a young girl whose life improved dramatically when her family received a goat from Heifer International. “Reading Beatrice’s Goat with your children will open their eyes to the broader world and hopefully give them a sense that they can make a difference in it. One person can buy one goat that changes an entire family’s lives for the better.”

Mercy Academy students in Kentucky earned a $5,000 grant on behalf of Heifer International at the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program, a national contest with about 1,500 groups of students from public and private schools participating. Students develop programs to help the hungry through raising awareness or providing direct assistance. Mercy students brought alpacas to school and charged $1 for students to get their photo with the alpaca.

I Heart Daily featured Heifer in this blog post, 3 Gifts for Dad, That Give Back. “While normally gifting your dad a trio of goats might result in a permanent grounding, when you buy them for a poverty-stricken community, all you’ll get is a thumbs-up.”

 

Around the Web: Inspired by a Goat, 40 Days to Give

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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.

Kids making signs

Photo credit: A Yellow Springs Blog

The kids at First Presbyterian Yellow Springs are inviting you to a Pancake Supper fundraiser on February 12, with donations going to Heifer International. If you like wheat, gluten-free or blueberry pancakes and boiled Yellow Spring eggs you won’t want to miss out!

During Lent, members at St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Mottville, NY, will save coins to donate to Heifer International. “We’re going to have 40 days to give up to give back,” Rev. Val White said. “At every meal, you put a coin in the bank. If it’s pennies, that’s fine. If every family member puts in a penny, that’s going to be a good amount after 40 days to give.”

Beatrice's Goat

Beatrice’s Goat

The diversity club at Eagle Heights Elementary School is tackling everything from bullying to poverty and hunger. They started the year out with a bake sale, inspired to help Heifer International after reading the book Beatrice’s Goat. The students made all the goodies to sell at school and raised enough to buy two goats and a beehive.

The students at Dogwood Elementary are collecting pledges, reading books and buying animals as part of Heifer International’s Read to Feed Program. In fact, they raised enough to buy three-plus Arks full of animals. Watch the video of the news report on wreg.com.

This Valentine’s Day, Roz Warren is thinking outside the box this year and tells us to Say It With Chickens in this entertaining blog post.

Around the Web: Beatrice’s Goat, Cow Puja, Effective Giving

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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.

Building Faith online Christian Ed community mentions Beatrice’s Goat, a book by Page McBrier, among a list of several great Stewardship Books for Children. This book tells story of a girl and the difference the gift of an animal from Heifer makes in the life of a community.

Cow Puja Cookies

Photo credit: Squash Blossom Farm

The 2nd Annual Cow Puja and Farm Fair was held September 30 at Squash Blossom Farm, and the awesome cookies pictured here were up for grabs in exchange for a donation to Heifer International. Thanks to the cooks, Bethany and Brendan! See more pics from this fun and festive day!

Diane Lane, a longtime supporter, talks about filming the PBS documentary “Half the Sky” and a bit about her experience with Heifer International.

You may want to check out this blog on the Provident Planning blog, What’s the Most Effective Way to Give? The blogger and his wife, who have donated to Heifer, outline their priorities on deciding where a donation will make the biggest difference.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School students in Dunedin, Florida, raised more than $1,000 during its “moo” service learning initiative to buy two cows for hungry families and communities in developing countries through Heifer International. To raise the money, students sold cookies and milk during snack time and after Mass in September, and made and sold cow-print hair bows and awareness ribbons.

Behind the Scenes at Heifer International’s Beyond Hunger Event

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Last Friday evening, Heifer International hosted its first ever Beyond Hunger event. I attended to provide support as Heifer’s PR manager, and I’d like to give you an insider’s view of the night. Stay tuned later this week for video clips of the evening’s highlights. Photos courtesy of Heifer International.

Ted Danson and Mary SteenburgenLiving the Hollywood event was a bit of a blur – the stars walking the “green” carpet, the reporters asking questions, ladies posing in pretty dresses (and high heels) for the cameras, and then me, decidedly unglamorous, there with a head set not so discreetly attached to my dress. My job was to prep, escort and in some cases stall our celebrity guests as they taped a short video public service announcement for Heifer International. I’m happy to report all the stars gladly sang our praises and gave personal accounts of how and why Heifer resonates with them.

Once the dinner got started, so did the speeches. All were impressive, but I was most in awe of Heifer’s own Beatrice Biira. I’ve read Beatrice’s Goat many times, but hearing her tell the story of receiving a goat at age 9, in her own words, her own voice, describing her dreams of going to school to learn that “funny” language they speak (she was referring to English) was truly mesmerizing. She spoke about her parents not having enough money to see a doctor for malaria medication and that having the $20.00 needed to pay for a semester of school would have been a luxury. That all changed when a goat, Mugisa, meaning “blessing,” came to her family, providing her with nutritious milk and means to make money by selling the surplus.

Beatrice Biira

She ended her speech stating that is was with humble gratitude that she thanked Heifer donors for their support allowing her to be a success story. Her speech was so emotionally inspiring that Mechad Brooks, turned to me and said, “I want to go on a trip with Heifer.”

We were fortunate to have videos from the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu and President Bill Clinton praising Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson, honorees of the evening and recipients of the FIRST Noble Globe, for their commitment and dedication to Heifer’s mission.

 

 

 

Colbie CaillatThe most entertaining part of the evening was the performance by Colbie Calliat. As she addressed the crowd, she admitted she had only recently been introduced to Heifer International, but because of Beatrice Biira’s story she was inspired and impressed by Heifer’s impact on communities. She rocked the room and brought the crowd to their dancing feet with her hit “Brighter Than The Sun.”

At the end of the night I felt proud of the work that went into the event by the entire team (those present and those in Little Rock) and thankful to be part of an organization that seeks to empower women and transform lives for generations to come.

Newsday: The Big Deal About Goats

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If you’ve ever read the children’s book Beatrice’s Goat, you understand immediately what Heifer’s work is meant to accomplish. With a small input such as a goat, a family in poverty soon has a way to grow income and move toward sustainability.

Beatrice Biira visits children in Ireland in 2006. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

As we’ve mentioned before, Heifer is now lucky enough to have Beatrice Biira on our staff doing community engagement in New York.

Newsday, a daily newspaper that serves the New York metropolitan area, today published a column by Jennifer Wheary on Biira with the following intro:

At 28, Beatrice Biira has had experiences that most of us will never have in our entire lives. She’s been on “60 Minutes,” “Good Morning America” and “Oprah.” She was the subject of an award-winning, bestselling 2001 children’s book called “Beatrice’s Goat.” She’s met celebrities and been featured in People magazine and The New York Times. She interned for Hillary Clinton when she was a U.S. senator and captured the attention of internationally renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University.

Sachs was so inspired by Biira that he created a theorem for her. The “Beatrice Theorem” simply and powerfully states that: “Small inputs can lead to large outcomes.”

Check out the full column here, and please comment with suggestions on how Biira and other Heifer staff and volunteers can help even more families by telling others about Heifer’s work.