Tag Archives: Lent

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.

Heifer Around the Web: Investing in Women, Blessing Animals, Youth Fundraising

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Every Sunday we will 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.

St. Bernadette 3rd-graders collected money for Heifer International as part of their class Lenten Service Project. The hoped to earn enough money to buy chickens through Heifer, and also incubated their own chicken eggs to learn all they could as well. What a great classroom activity!

If you are a pet lover in the Boston area you’ll want to check out the Blessing of the Animals at St. Matthew’s United Methodist church on Sunday afternoon, June 24th. To top it off, a free will offering will be donated to the Buddy Dog Humane Society and Heifer International.

The Case for Investing in Women is a very thoughtful article written by 2013 Presidio Gradate Schol MBA candidate Liz Vyas on investing in women, increasing household incomes, and the concept of sustainability. Several institutions and non-profits are mentioned for empowering women, including Heifer International.

Saint Joseph Parish of Shelburne Falls, MA blogs about the youth’s fundraising efforts for Heifer International, which allowed them to send us a check for $1,500 recently. Thanks so much, we really appreciate the support.

In Clergy Family Confidential, this post called Top Ten Reasons NOT to Go to Church this Summer, Heifer International is listed in #7 (There’s No Church School), as a reason TO GO, at least to his church. At St. John’s, they are offering Heifer’s Animal Crackers as a summer offering.

When a Sacrifice Doesn’t Feel Like a Sacrifice

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Linda and her Mountain Dew

Me, 25 years ago, with my Mountain Dew and a college friend. I've been a longtime fan.

Lent is quickly coming to an end and I bet you all have been wondering if I stuck to my Lenten sacrifice of no Mountain Dews.

Well… I am happy to say that I have successfully abstained. Admittedly, it was pretty hard the first week or two or three but I survived the headaches and found other ways to supplement my caffeine habit. I was even able to cut down drastically on caffeine and sodas in general. Something I hope to stick to even after Easter.

And… I’m feeling great about it, physically and emotionally. Throughout my life, I’ve given up a variety of things for Lent, even Mountain Dew in past years, and this was absolutely the easiest time I’ve had. Whenever I found myself craving aMilk and Eggs Alleviate Poverty - (Project # 27-0629-01) Mountain Dew I immediately thought of the $1.50 that I was going to be able to put in my cup and how much that cup of change was going to help a family in need somewhere in the world.

My $1.50-a-day, $60 total gift may not seem like much, but with it I am buying three flocks of chicks. Those chicks mean there will be enough eggs to eat, sell and share, ensuring the health and well being of an entire family, and possibly even a community. I was curious to learn exactly what my chicks could do, so I searched past blog posts and and ran across this one about what a gift of chickens really did for farmers in Ghana, written by World Ark Senior Staff Writer Annie Bergman who was actually there to see it for herself.

I can’t wait ’til next year when I get to do this again.

Committing to Heifer for Lent

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Today’s post is by Linda Meyers, Heifer Communications team member.

Lent has always been my favorite time of year. Maybe becauseI know spring is coming, the days are getting longer, the animals start comingout more, and the colors start sneaking back out again on the lawn and in thegardens. It’s a time of hope, new life, and for my family more together-time aswe go out and enjoy nature as much as we can.

Lent is also a time of sacrifice. The story of Jesus’s lifeand ultimate sacrifice has always been important to me, and Lent has alwaysbeen a time to reflect on what he gave up by giving up something myself. Evenduring my 10 years away from church, I still gave something up, or chose to dosomething new and worthwhile, for the 40 days leading up to Easter. This year,I’m going to do both.

Photo by David Snyder, courtesy of Heifer International

As a member of the communications team here at Heifer, Iread and write daily about the stories of people bringing themselves out ofpoverty with a simple gift from Heifer. I upload their pictures to Flickr and pin interesting tidbits onPinterest. As I’m doing this, I feel for them and their struggles, and respecttheir abilities to overcome huge obstacles. I am drawn to help them. This year,I’m going to help by dedicating my Lenten sacrifice to Heifer.


I’ve decided to give up my Mountain-Dew-a-day habit. This isno easy task, since I love Mountain Dew and count on the caffeine to wake meup, but deciding to give the money that would otherwise be spent ($1.50 a day) to Heifer is giving me the extraincentive to actually be excited about it. To think that this small sacrificeon my part can be a part of something as big as giving people hope for a betterlife as well as the tools to make it a reality, is huge to me, and it makes mehappy. A win-win for everyone. Somethingin me even tells me Jesus would smile at this idea.

I invite you to join me, and be the difference in a family’s life. If you are thinking about donating the money you are saving by yoursacrifice, or even donating time and/or talents to Heifer or any otherorganization, leave a comment. I’m interested in reading about what you are doing this Lenten season.

Giving Up? Give Back: 40 Days to Make a Difference

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Whenyou’re poor and hungry, you give up something each day. A parent gives up theircup of rice for their starving child. A young girl gives up her dream ofreading—tragically, poverty demands sacrifice.


Congregationsand people all around the world will today begin celebrating the season ofLent. As an expression of faith, individuals and families will give somethingup­–coffee, candy, even Facebook or Twitter–as a daily reminder of thesacrifice made on their behalf. But whetheryou celebrate Lent or not, giving up something important to you can be profoundand send a powerful message if you dedicate your season of Lent to HeiferInternational.

Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International
Theaverage weekly wage in Uganda is just $5.38. According to zagat.com, the nationalaverage cost for a meal out in the United States is $35.37, just over sixweeks’ wages for a Ugandan family. Imagine the impact you can have by justdonating six meals during the six weeks of Lent – the $210 you’d donate toHeifer could provide a community with a goat, honeybees and three flocks ofchicks. What a life-changing gift that would be!
Youcan make this challenge even more impactful by asking family and friends tojoin you as well. Together, you could feed a whole village and give them thetools to transform. By sacrificing for a short time, you can help create awhole new life free from poverty for families who now sacrifice every day.
Thesacrifices you make will mean a world of difference to a family living inpoverty; join Heifer International’s mission eradicate hunger and poverty.

Congregation Resources
Did you know that Heifer International offers a variety of resources that willhelp deepen your congregation’s understanding of stewardship and the power andimportance of giving to those in need? From bulletin inserts to completeextended lesson plans, you’ll find some inspiring ways to share your love forHeifer in the context of your faith. Check out our congregation resources.