Tag Archives: Holidays

Hop On Over and Give for Easter

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Heifer Hoppy Easter Basket

Our ‘Hoppy’ Easter Basket is filled with shares of a sheep, heifer, goat, rabbits, and a flock of ducks and chicks. These animals give families milk, eggs and meat for nutrition and a source of income. And with additional income there is money for school supplies, medicine and doctor expenses, and improved quality of living. The ‘Hoppy’ Easter Basket offers the hope a family needs for a sustainable future. And this hope continues as each family passes on gifts of animals and training to another. A gift basket from Heifer this Easter lasts much longer and helps more families than the usual Easter basket filled with marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies ever could.

Check out the rest of what Heifer has to offer this Easter!

Heifer Easter Basket

Give a Basket of Hope

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Heifer Easter BasketThe Hatch Hope Easter Basket, with its chickens and rabbits, offers just that to Heifer’s project partners. What can be more hopeful to a struggling farmer than a gift of fast-multiplying livestock? Rabbits are easy to care for and reproduce quickly, allowing their owners to sell the offspring for extra income once they’ve fulfilled Heifer’s Passing on the Gift promise; and chickens lay eggs and provide manure for vegetable gardens. That’s why this gift of Hope goes on and on, lasting much longer and helping more families than the usual gift basket filled with marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies ever could.

Check out the rest of what Heifer has to offer this Easter!

Heifer Easter Basket

Free Printable Valentine’s Cards from Heifer

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Tomorrow will be the first Valentine’s Day my daughter (almost 3) will really participate in, and I’m kind of excited for her. They’ve been making heart-shaped crafts at daycare, and while I’m not sure they’re having a true party (they seem to reserve those for the P-3 and up classes), I bet they’ll share Valentine’s Day cards.

Our Creative Services team made a set of eight cards, and you can download free printable Valentine’s Day cards here to share the Heifer love with your kids and their friends tomorrow. I can’t wait to print these off and get them ready to send with my daughter to school tomorrow. Check here for more Heifer-themed Valentine’s Day goodies.

HeiferGraphic: Do Valentine’s Day the Heifer Way

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Are you one of the average Americans who spent $68.98 on your significant other last Valentine’s Day?

Tired of making that last-minute run to the nearest grocery store for what’s left of the heart-shaped chocolates and generic flowers, and hoping beyond hope they’ve still got a box of whatever the latest kids’ Valentine’s Day cards happen to be? Plan ahead, and join the [ALT] GIFT revolution with Heifer.

Check out www.heifer.org/vday for Valentine’s Day gift alternatives and a bunch of fun goodies, like a Facebook timeline banner and printable cards to send with your kids to their school parties.

Share this Heifergraphic on your own blog!

How To Give Green This Valentine’s

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Roses are red,
Violets are blue,



With Valentine’s Day just a week away, it’s not too early to begin thinking of what you can get for your sweetie. But instead of spending hundreds of dollars on flowers that will wilt or chocolate that could melt, instead, do something for your Valentine that will be felt in the heart.
Volunteer
It may not be a candlelit dinner, but what better way to spend a little time with your honey than volunteering at a soup kitchen or taking time out to do something to pay the love forward.
Cook Together at Home
Continue to make sustainable food choices and buy foods that are seasonal. You and your Valentine can know that the meal you are sharing is a meal that is good for the Earth and for your budget.
Pick the Perfect Gift
Show your love this Valentine’s by giving a gift that you know will make him or her jump over the moon with joy. A gift from Heifer. You can even print off a card to be able to share your gift with that special someone.
What will you be doing this Valentine’s Day?

Connecting with Africa as Kwanzaa Begins

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I won’t pretend to know a lot about Kwanzaa. From what I’ve learned online, it’s an African-American and Pan-African holiday celebrated from December 26-January 1. While the holiday is rooted in ancient African history and culture, the modern iteration of Kwanzaa was established in 1966, making this year the 45th anniversary celebration. Kwanzaa was created to help reconnect African-Americans with traditional African culture. It was also intended to be a holiday to celebrate and reinforce the bonds between Africans as a people. And it was created to introduce and reinforce the Seven Principles, which are the communitarian African values of Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith.

The Seven Principles really resonate with me as a Heifer employee and supporter, because they align well with our 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development.

In honor of Kwanzaa, I thought I’d share this video about our work in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, where families have seen their lives transformed through our East Africa Dairy Development Project.

Taking the "Box" Out of Boxing Day

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Post written by Heifer International Writer Falguni Vyas.

Boxing Day forever lives in the shadow of its much bigger, much older sibling, Christmas. This day after Christmas holiday is observed in most countries that were settled by the English (with the exception of the United States) and while no one really knows the true origins, it is a day celebrated by many. 

Photo by zharth. Used under Creative Commons License.
Some say Boxing Day came about when King Wenceslas (of “Good King Wenceslas” Christmas Carol fame) was moved to charity when he saw a poor man gathering wood during a massive snowstorm on Dec 26th. From then on, this became the day the English poor received the most charity. 
Another theory is that it’s a result of The Church of England’s Advent celebration. During Advent, Anglican parishes passed around boxes in which churchgoers put in monetary donations. Then, on the day after Christmas, the contents of the boxes were distributed among the poor.  

Maybe it’s because traditionally the aristocracy gives out boxed Christmas presents and bonuses to their servants and staff? Servants and staff typically worked on Christmas Day and were given the 26th off to go home and celebrate the Holiday with their family. 

In all honesty, no one really knows the true origins of this mysterious holiday. Each theory does share a common thread: helping the poor. 

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that it’s a whole day dedicated to give back to those that are less fortunate, to the many families in the world that need a helping hand. In 1994, the country of South Africa went so far as to rename Boxing Day to “the Day of Goodwill”. This year, let’s all take a page out of their book and make a contribution in the fight to end hunger and poverty in the world; a world in which more than half of the population lives on less than $2 USD a day. 

This December 26th shop the Heifer Gift Catalog. Not only will you make Good King Wenceslas proud, you’ll also be joining the ranks of millions of Brits and Australians who celebrate this day much like the way Americans celebrate Black Friday; by shopping up a storm. 

With the Heifer Gift Catalog there are no lines, no shipping fees, no hassle. And as an added bonus, no gift-wrapping (and ironically no boxes) means you’ll be doing the Earth a favor, too.