Tag Archives: International Volunteer Day

Volunteering for Heifer Through the Years

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Editor’s note: Today is International Volunteer Day 2012. This year’s theme is “Celebrate Volunteering!” Heifer International is supported by many volunteers, in both developed and developing countries. Today we share accounts from some of those volunteers. The following post is by Nancy Handke, a Heifer community volunteer in Clarendon Hills, Illinois.

Volunteers Welcome

Photo by sj-white. Used under Creative Commons license.

I first became aware of Heifer in the late 50s when my church elected me to be the Heifer representative. When the Chicago office opened, I became a volunteer mainly doing mailings. Soon I began volunteering in the office one or two days a week doing odd jobs plus setting up the computer database. Audrey Veath also was volunteering the same day, and we became dear friends. She suggested we have a quilt auction for Heifer International. Together we chaired the auction, which was held every three years. It became the major fundraiser for the Chicago office.

My church got a new rector, who one day asked me if I thought we could put on something like a Living Gift Market for our community. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven! And thus in 2007, the Family Farm Fest was born. We are a small congregation, but have become a dedicated Heifer church where everyone volunteers for Family Farm Fest. The event is held in our church parking lot the first Saturday of August every year. We have 10 animal booths, each of which has a “hands on” craft project for children and a Heifer volunteer who explains how the animal is used to improve the lives of the Heifer recipients. There are games, food, cake walks, and of course live animals. The llamas and alpacas are a huge hit as they walk around the grounds. In 2011 we even had a camel. We begin working on the Fest in January. A big part of our focus is spreading the word about Heifer. Starting in May we go to all the local and surrounding communities and have booths in their fairs, street dances, Daisy Days, etc. where we handout Heifer material along with a flyer about Family Farm Fest. We attract up to 1,000 + at the Fest and have been very lucky in raising Gift Arks for Heifer.

This past August we had a simulated Passing on the Gift ceremony with a script written by two Heifer volunteers. We also invited the Church of the Brethren, Union Church and a Muslim congregation to join with us, and “man” a booth to make our festival more ecumenical and inclusive of the community. The day after the Family Farm Fest, we had big celebration service in church, where there wasn’t a dry eye while everyone rejoiced in the accomplishment of raising Gift Arks for Heifer.

Heifer International is so very dear to my heart. It is the only charity where, in all my 81 years, I have volunteered where I know the money goes where it does the most good and keeps on giving. It is not a one shot deal like so many other charities are. Another benefit I treasure is the many wonderful friends I have made. Heifer volunteers are the best!

Become a Heifer Volunteer.

The Spirit of Volunteerism

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Editor’s note: Today is International Volunteer Day 2012. This year’s theme is “Celebrate Volunteering!” Heifer International is supported by many volunteers, in both developed and developing countries. Today we share accounts from some of those volunteers. The following post is by Richard Ims, residential volunteer at Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas.

Heifer Ranch volunteer Richard milking goat

Richard Ims milks a goat at Heifer Ranch. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full.
But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

– G. Donald Gale

Research has documented the benefits of volunteering. Health seems to improve both physically and mentally for those who give of themselves for others. But this is not our motivation. It is only a glancing consequence to truly getting behind something we believe in. We’d do it regardless of any quid pro quo perk.

It is a calling.

The very definition of volunteering is a service-act of one’s own freewill…..without compensation. This lack of compensation, at the heart of it, should include any “warm-fuzzy” we might be addicted to as amelioration for our “good” actions. This is the yardstick we use to help critique our own motivation in aiding others. How does this make me feel?  A legitimate question, yes…..but not the compelling factor. We can and should certainly feel fulfilled as a human being when we are able to help relieve another’s plight. This is why we exist. This is why we were created. But the yearning of compassion relentlessly tugs.

Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning.
Love has to be put into action, and that action is service.

– Mother Teresa

Therefore, always take the stance of humility and be ready to have your own plight relieved by another….and accept it graciously. To be fully human is in part, to know how to pass on AND receive the gift when freely given. The whole and mature volunteer knows and lives this principle comfortably.

Now allow me to also ponder the agricultural definition of a volunteer [read: a plant which springs up from its own seed]:  “Growing, without being intentionally seeded by hand.”

We volunteers, miraculously grow more deeply without the expectation of constantly being re-seeded by any profit motivation. We just give, as we have been given already from the start, better off for not fully knowing our impact:

It is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;he goes to bed at night and gets up by day,and the seed sprouts up and grows– how, he himself does not know.

– Mark 4:27

We need focus outside our own selves. The lack of this outward focus has been one of the deadliest downfalls of our recent societal trend: Individualism and the stubborn, immature and selfish stance of “me.”

In many ways, WHAT volunteering effort we get behind almost doesn’t matter. It is THAT we get behind something other than ourselves and our own agendas, which makes the difference:

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work,
but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

– Antoine de Saint Exupery

My wife and I have been full-time volunteers for the past 12 years. We’ve had to sacrifice a lot to do this, but no thing greater than our own agendas and ideas of success. Much of our inspiration has come from other volunteers, especially the young voices and activists who have more of a global perspective than we ever did at their ages. It gives us great hope and great pride in the human endeavor.

Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.

– Leo Buscaglia

Richard's wife, Jina, volunteering in Kitchen at Heifer Ranch

Richard's wife, Jina, volunteering in the kitchen at Heifer Ranch. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Of course, most are not called to full-time volunteering. There are so many important family responsibilities that trump this lifestyle. But the care we give our own family members is also a call in the spirit of volunteerism and “going beyond the call of duty,” which nurtures and manifests that same spirit in our future generations through leading by example.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

– Aesop

So serve in the situation and opportunity your creator has given you already. Then be open and vigilant to the opportunities that pervade your own community. In this way we may gracefully expand into the void that begs to be filled by love and care and then without fail, the act exponentially multiplies and causes a ripple effect.

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment: we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straight away.

– Anne Frank

It is pure pleasure to know that we work with fellow volunteers and in our own way, foster greater Love, Peace and Joy in the human spirit; to encourage and be encouraged. Remain steadfast and please don’t let the task-oriented, hard-wiring of our society make you forget why you do what you do. Volunteering is way beyond a job, so don’t make it one. Take the time to smell the roses you are planting through your positive energy and desire to serve. In this way, we journey together to one day become more fully human.

I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
Those among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

– Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Become a Heifer Volunteer.

Heifer Volunteers, We Thank You

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Editor’s note: Today is International Volunteer Day 2012. This year’s theme is “Celebrate Volunteering!” Heifer International is supported by many volunteers, in both developed and developing countries. Today we share accounts from our volunteers and staff. The following post is by Kate Merrill, Heifer’s Atlanta Community Engagement Coordinator.

I’m often asked by my colleagues in other charities how Heifer is able to maintain over 80 percent of its revenue from contributions, even in the hardest of economic times, and continue to build upon the 18.5 million families around the world Heifer has helped. I tell them that it’s simple – we have an amazingly diverse and widespread grassroots network of helpers. People who feel a deep connection to our work are embedded in communities across the U.S., sharing Heifer in their congregations, schools, civic organizations, at local fairs and festivals and even dropping Heifer Gift Catalogs in doctor’s offices and airplane seat pockets. They are young and old, of every background and race, and individual powerhouses of energy and enthusiasm for sharing our work. They keep our mission alive at the local level so we can train, educate and empower impoverished communities on a global level.

Early Heifer Volunteers

Early Heifer Volunteers: the Seagoing Cowboys. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

The first Heifer volunteers stood up in Dan West’s church in 1944 and offered cows to struggling families in Puerto Rico. Then young male volunteers, called “Seagoing Cowboys,” transported our animals on ships to our first projects around the world. And while our volunteers no longer need a farming background to contribute, they have the same heart for helping the poor help themselves through a passion for sharing our mission.

The line distinguishing a donor from a volunteer at Heifer is nonexistent. Anyone who gives a gift of an animal to another person is passing on our mission to another person. We are all advocates for Heifer’s work each time we share with others how the simple gift of an animal can be the difference between hunger and self-reliance for a family in need.

Young volunteer.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Many of the staff at Heifer were once volunteers themselves, and many who have moved on from Heifer still are! Heifer’s mission lives inside of us for a lifetime, bringing out the best in us as we work together to create a more just and sustainable world.

Volunteering for Heifer feels good because helping others feels good. People flock to you to tell you their story about how they’ve supported Heifer, why they love the mission and what their favorite animal to give is. Like-minded people engage you in conversations about feeding the world’s poor. People thank you for sharing Heifer with them! Atlanta volunteers, Ernie Scott and Polly Holder, tell me how much it inspires them when they give a presentation or staff a booth and are surrounded by an instant community of people eager to help others. Ernie says, “It reminds me that I’m not alone.”

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

It is easy to get overwhelmed by the problems in our world and feel that as an individual, there is little to be done to enact positive change. I’m reminded of something Fred Rogers said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” No matter how disparaging things might be, we hold an incredible power to inspire and empower others through our actions. For each animal Heifer gives, there is an average of six pass-ons through Passing on the Gift. The same rings true for sharing Heifer’s work. Pass on to others why you support Heifer, and watch it grow. Being a helper is one of the easiest, most personally fulfilling ways to make a difference in the world.

Volunteer group.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

On this International Volunteer Day, we thank you – our endlessly hopeful, dedicated Heifer Helpers – for making Heifer’s work possible through every gift you give, booth you staff, presentation you do, and conversation you have that moves us one step closer to ending hunger and poverty. Thank you for sharing Heifer in your sphere of influence and giving the gift of hope to families all over the world.

Become a Heifer Volunteer.

International Volunteer Day 2012: Celebrate Volunteering!

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Editor’s note: Today is International Volunteer Day 2012. This year’s theme is “Celebrate Volunteering!” Heifer International is supported by many volunteers, in both developed and developing countries. Today we will share accounts from some of those volunteers. The first is a testimony by Suzanne Awalt, a Heifer community volunteer in Rocklin, California.

Volunteer Day logo

Being a Heifer volunteer enriches my life in many ways. I am a more conscientious global citizen and neighbor, a more savvy donor to any and all charitable organizations, a more sensitive Earth steward. I feel culturally and spiritually connected to other peoples of the world and more in-touch with my own role in living justly and sustainably. It is a joy and a privilege to be part of a significant socioeconomic movement that improves the lives of others. Likewise, it is brings me pleasure to be able to share with individuals and groups the efficacy of Heifer’s long-tested method of empowering families and communities. I have learned a great deal and am able to interact on a regular basis with intelligent, passionate and engaged people who share a vision of a world where all citizens participate in the benefits of living on our beautiful planet. I am grateful each day for the presence of Heifer in my life.

Learn how you can Become a Heifer Volunteer.