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

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Linda Meyers

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: 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

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: Student Fundraisers, Homemade Jewelry

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Linda Meyers

“Los Alamos Middle School teacher Dana Kline and her hawks soar to new heights raising funds to benefit others through reading” in Heifer’s Read to Feed progam, where they earned $453.65 to purchase one llama, one pig, one flock each of ducks, geese and chickens, two hives of bees and three rabbits.

Photo credit: The Sun

One club at Osceola Intermediate School is knitting a path to social responsibility. During the club’s inaugural year, the club made a fleece blanket and auctioned it off to raise money for Heifer International and local food shelves. Since then, the Social Responsibility Club has become so popular they had to limit enrollment to just fifth graders.

Thanks to the efforts of Falling Spring Elementary School fifth-graders this month, and an idea from student Brynn Kegerreis, $360 was raised to purchase a sheep, goat and pig through Heifer International. When Kegerreis’ goal of $250 was passed, teacher Doug Shatzer dressed up like a cow and handed out ice cream to students. ”What amazed me the most is that Brynn came up with it all on her own,” said Shatzer. “She organized it, kept track of the money and put together the progress.”

If you like homemade jewelry, check out this story about The Gold Trout, which carries jewelry made by the owner’s 16-year-old niece; 100 percent of the proceeds go to Heifer International.

Photo credit: Plymouth-Canton Patch

South Canton Scholars Charter Academy students raised $297 for Heifer International through Holiday Dress Day. The student council decided to buy a flock of chicks, a sheep, a goat and a boost of nutrition package to help people around the globe.

Arellanes Junior High School students have participated in holiday charity projects to help end world hunger, gather food for a local food drive and create beanies for babies and adults with disabilities. This year they raised more than $400 in about three weeks for Heifer International, organized a food drive for a local foodbank, and created more than 400 hand-made beanies for a maternity ward.

Around the Web: Markets, Certificates, How to Give to a Giver

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Linda Meyers

Photo credit: kait8.com

Cornerstone United Methodist Church held its annual Glorious Giving Market November 10, 2012, benefiting six organizations including Heifer International. “It’s a glorious thing that God would be proud of because it helps really needy people,” said Patricia Harlan, Leader of Mission Team.

The Juniper Moon Farm has a recent blog post listing great children’s books that feature knitting, yarn or sheep, great holiday gifts. If you find a book you want to buy, and click on the link through the blog, the blog will donate it’s percentage to Heifer International.

Photo credit: missminimalist.com

I thought this was a unique way to let others know you’d be happy with an alternative gift this holiday (such as the kind Heifer International offers). Check out the One Less Gift certificate.

She Knows Shopping tells us How to Give to a Giver: “Skip the commercial items this year, and give your advocate friend a gift that supports a cause you know will be meaningful.” Buying a chicken or cow through Heifer International is among the great ideas listed.

Students at Los Alamos Middle School in New Mexico are participating in Heifer International’s Read to Feed‚ a reading incentive program that allows children to help find solutions to global problems like hunger and poverty. Students will record books they read through Dec. 14, and will ask for pledges for each book read.

Tina Forsyth is having a virtual launch for her new book to help entrepreneurs improve their business process and enjoy some time off. Heifer International will benefit from 25 percent of the sales from the launch.

Saint John’s Presbyterian Church in Houston is having a Living Gift Market on December 2, and will feature many booths selling items that will benefit the community and the world, including Heifer International.

In Kendal Park, New Jersey, an alternative gift market is being held November 18, offering African, Asian and Latin American handicrafts, as well as alternative gift offerings from Heifer International.

Read To Feed Has a Fun New Website

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Kelly MacNeil

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Know a group of kids who’d like to get involved with Heifer? We have some exciting news about Heifer’s classic Read to Feed program.

Read to Feed now has a revamped website, with features that make it extra-simple and enjoyable to participate in this reading incentive program. Teachers will find it easier than ever to customize their class’s project and share their students’ progress with the whole community.

Read to Feed involves classrooms in helping to end hunger and poverty around the world, while fostering a love of reading. Now educators can set up a class reading and fundraising goal and use Facebook, Twitter and email to encourage their friends, family and neighbors to get involved.

Read to Feed challenges children to use their own reading efforts to help buy Heifer International animals for other needy kids. Kids love to work toward this goal, because it’s a purpose that makes sense to them. Hunger is a clear injustice, and children want to be part of the solution.

The free Read to Feed kit is full of materials to make the project come to life. At the end of the program, the group pools its challenge funds and decides which animals to donate through Heifer International, to help other families move into self-reliance.

Education World called the website “light and fun,” saying, “For classes that want to improve student reading ability while helping families in need, Read to Feed is the place to go.”

Classes can add pictures, goals and achievements to the class page and use a fundraising thermometer to help keep track of all the progress. Teachers looking for new ways to inspire their classes can visit www.readtofeed.org or, to order the Read to Feed kit, email volunteer@heifer.org or call 877-275-READ (7323).

From the Field: Heifer’s Work Around the World

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Erin Snow

This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field” section.

Resiliency is an accurate description for Heifer’s project participants. In Armenia, the Kyureghyan family lost all their livestock in an earthquake and struggled to make ends meet. Find out what happened when Heifer came to town in The Secret to the Kyureghyan Family Success.

For Carol T. Balisong of the Philippines, life just keeps getting better. This past Women in Livestock Development (WiLD) award winner owns a popular cafe in her town. Read more about Carol in Revisiting the Past: WiLD Awardee Still Doing Wonders.

Resilient women in Haiti

No stranger to natural disasters, residents of Haiti are learning sustainable practices through Heifer’s REACH project. Check out What’s New in Haiti to learn more.

Literacy has a big part to play in making one resilient, and the younger literacy skills are acquired, the better. Celebrating Literacy for More than Just One Day spotlights various South African schools that are finding success with Heifer’s Read to Feed program.

International Literacy Day: A Great Day to Read to Feed

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

Heifer Honduras children studying English

Photo by Amy Davenport, courtesy of Heifer International

September 8 is International Literacy Day, and this year’s theme is Literacy and Peace.

From UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova:

Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity.

Literacy is an important part of the work we at Heifer International do in the field. Many of our project participants are illiterate when projects begin. Where illiteracy is widespread in project communities, we emphasize literacy trainings as part of the project design. A significant benefit of our work is families’ improved ability to send and keep their children in school, increasing literacy rates for the entire community.

Want to help Heifer International raise global literacy rates and improve literacy in your own home at the same time? Check out Read to Feed, our unique program that will get your kids reading and supporting Heifer in fun and exciting ways.

Read to Feed Helps Kids Learn to Love Reading

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Kelly MacNeil

As parents and schools gear up for the school year, Heifer International wants you to know about its special reading incentive program for grade-school kids. Read to Feed helps teachers impart an ethic of global giving to kids while also fostering their reading skills.

The Read to Feed reading program is great for kids in grades K-6.

With Read to Feed, kids get so excited about giving animals to help children in poverty, they may not even realize they’re also helping themselves by reading more. Just like adults, kids are more enthusiastic about their efforts when they know they’re making a difference to others.

In Read to Feed, children (individually or as a group) get sponsors for each book they read during a certain time period. At the end of the program, the group pools its funds and decides which animals to donate through Heifer International, to help other families reach self-reliance.

The program even has a snazzy new online resource center that makes it easy for teachers to learn about the program and get their materials. Heifer International knows how vital education is. So why not help a younger generation to educate themselves while they learn about the pleasure of helping others?

Heifer Around the Web: Pinterest, Diane Lane, and the Gift of a Goat

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Linda Meyers

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.

Arik Hanson at Communications Conversation wrote about three non-profits using Pinterest to drive real social change, including Heifer International! If you’re into Pinterest, or social media in general, you’ll want to check out this blog.

At the conclusion of this year’s Steiner Summer Yiddish Program, the students presented staff with a thoughtful gift of a goat in their honor through Heifer International. A quote from the cared: “May this gift bring you joy as it brings hope to a family in need.”

Bill Brioux interviews Heifer International supporter Diane Lane for his blog TV Feeds my Family.

Thanks to Maria from Maria’s Space blog and Mandee from Raising My 5 Sons blog for sharing our press release on our Read to Feed program!

Weekly Article Roundup: Giving the Resources to End Hunger

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Maegan Clark

As part of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones, providing training and resources is key in our success of helping to end hunger and poverty. Our long-term solution to ending hunger works with community involvement on teach not just the family receiving the gift, but other families as well.

In order to complete the Cornerstone Training, groups must receive several mandatory trainings such as Nutrition and Hygiene. Check out this video from Maggie Carroll, a Clinton School of Public Service student is who documenting Heifer’s projects in India:

Through our practices, Heifer has also created some pretty cool solutions to many problems people face in third-world countries such as needing renewable and cheap source of fuel. Heifer’s Uganda biogas project has solved just that. InterAction has given Heifer Uganda the “Best Practices and Innovations” award for creating a technique that uses cattle and pig waste to produce methane gas for lighting and cooking.

Through our school and community engagement tools, Heifer has created Read to Feed. Read to Feed is a reading incentive service-learning program that offers global education opportunities. This week we learned that Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel and Gandhi Prize recipient and human rights activist from South Africa supports the program.

Given the right resources, we can all be involved in ending hunger and poverty.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Supports Heifer’s Read to Feed Program

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Brooke Edwards

: Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Heifer’s Read to Feed program welcomes a new supporter – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel and Gandhi Prize recipient and human rights activist from South Africa.

“I strongly support the Read to Feed program,” said Tutu. “Join me in helping our children learn, from a young age, both the joy of reading and the great honor of being part of changing the world for the better.”

Reed to Feed is a program unique to Heifer that not only encourages reading, but also gives kids the chance to change the world for the better. Children collect pledges for each book they read and then contribute their pledge earnings to Heifer’s mission. We have many Read to Feed participants, not only in the United States, but also in some of our project countries like South Africa.

In South Africa, Read to Feed has been successful in many school such as Crawford Preparatory School in La Lucia, Scottsville Primary School in Pietermaritzburg, St. Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Kloof and Bishops Preparatory school in Cape Town, to name a few.

Seventh-grader Daniel Stainforth from Crawford Preparatory School said, “I feel we can afford to help, but others can’t. No one really motivated me before to read books. But in this case, (knowing that I am helping others) has motivated me.”

To learn more about our Read to Feed program and inspire the young people in your life to love reading and helping others, visit our Read to Feed page on our website.

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