Editor’s note: This week’s series about volunteering is to spotlight the Spring into Action events on March 24^th hosted by Heifer International. Read why these volunteers have dedicated their time in helping share Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth.

By Sandi Watson, Heifer Volunteer

Why I first volunteered

Heifer immediately made sense to me. Train people, give them animals, ask them to share – soon families are self-reliant and able to help others. Sustainable transformation?  Sign me up.

Why I still volunteer

All the people I’ve met through Heifer amaze me. Teachers, grade school kids, high school and college students, moms, dads, senior citizens, pastors, Sunday School teachers, my fellow volunteers, Heifer staff, farmers in Peru – you can’t measure the energy, time, creativity, and compassion that all these people put into helping others.

I once visited a small church in Bradford that raised $1,600 for Heifer-Haiti by hosting five spaghetti dinners. Imagine this:  A small group of women willing to shop for the ingredients, cook dinner for 100 people, and then wash giant pots and pans late into the evening after each meal, all to help people they’ll never meet.

When I asked second grade students in East Gloucester why they raised money for Heifer, one kid said:    “So people won’t be depressed. We want them to be happy.”  A second grader!  He blew my mind.

A college student in Lynnfield had a dying Ford Taurus. He could have junked the car and kept the money – money any college student could use, for sure – but instead he decided to hold a Car Smash and donate the proceeds to Heifer. Who does that?  A young man who grew up in a congregation dedicated to Heifer.  A young man who wants to make a difference.

On a Heifer-Peru study tour, we witnessed a Passing on the Gift ceremony in Acopía. In the months before that day, farmers had walked long miles to train other farmers, to share lessons in animal care techniques, organic farming, community development, and more.  On the day of the ceremony, each family brought six sheep to give away. Six sheep!  We were surrounded by confetti, music, sheep, and smiling people. You could see the joy and dignity of Heifer in that day.

The bonus

I like my job as an editor but it doesn’t make my heart beat faster.

Heiferizing does. Whether the group is new to Heifer or filled with long-time supporters, I can’t stop smiling after we share Heifer time.  I get to be one of the links!  I get to help connect Heifer project communities working to change their lives with communities here on the North Shore who want to make that possible.  It feels amazing and I am deeply grateful.

Sandi Watson, AVC Heifer Boston-North

Editor’s note: This week’s series about volunteering is to spotlight the Spring into Action events on March 24^th hosted by Heifer International. Read why these volunteers have dedicated their time in helping share Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. 

Hi, there!!  My name is Polly Stewart Holder, and I’m a volunteer for Heifer Project in Atlanta, Georgia.  I really love volunteering for HPI, because I know that whatever I do will make an enormous impact both on the lives of the people that I see and work with here in the Southeast and in the rest of the world.

I first learned about Heifer about five years ago this spring.  I randomly received one of the “Most Important Gift Catalogues” in the mail around the holiday season in 2006.  However, I just set it aside until later that spring.  Upon opening it up, I became quickly intrigued by the Heifer model and the focus that HPI gives to education, empowerment, advocacy and responsibility.  I was particularly impressed by Heifer’s dedication to education.  When I’m not hanging out Heifer-style, I teach in a high school.  I truly think the only way that we are going to make a lasting and global difference in eradicating poverty is through education.

Heifer does a great deal to support and enrich teachers such as Heifer Us, the GERKs (Global Resource Kits), the website with games/activities, and through the Study Tour for Educators.  I applied and was granted the opportunity to go to Honduras in 2007 on one of those Study Tours.  It changed my life.  I wholeheartedly believe in the Heifer model, and I believe that it is one of the only ways that we can eliminate hunger and poverty and to care for our world.  In fact, I ended up writing my dissertation on Heifer’s experiences for teachers, and I have presented about Heifer in a range of teacher conferences around the United States!

Llama Love at Overlook Ranch in MA

As a volunteer, I really love how there’s something for everyone.  HPI truly works with your strengths, and whether you prefer to raise money by taking donations for athletic events (Hoofing it for Heifer), by speaking to churches, civic groups or schools, or by hosting a consciousness raising event in your own home (12 Stones), there is something that you will enjoy!  Every person that I have met while volunteering for Heifer has been fun, smart, involved, and a joy to be around.  I think that YOU should get involved in the Atlanta area group because there are ways for you to keep learning, social events to meet people, and the opportunity to make our world a better place! Please shoot us an email at heiferatlanta@gmail.com or on our Facebook page Heifer in Atlanta for more info.

Editor’s note: This week’s series about volunteering is to spotlight the Spring into Action events on March 24^th hosted by Heifer International. Read why these volunteers have dedicated their time in helping share Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. 

By David Keeton, a Los Angeles volunteer

For a number of years I had been searching for a way to give back to the world.   Having been born in America, the greatest country in the world (even with all of its warts), and blessed with an intellect and a driving work ethic, over the years I became quite successful.   I had traveled the world and had seen the abject poverty affecting over half the world’s population.  I was seeking a way to assist in working to end hunger and poverty, and making people more self-sufficient.

I was introduced to Heifer 10 years ago; however, it took me another 2 years to become dedicated to the organization.  I had attended the annual dinner in LaVerne and halfway through the evenings’ proceedings I realized that I had indeed found the vehicle to match my objectives.

Ever since, I have represented Heifer at numerous Street Fairs & Business Mixers throughout Southern California, done presentations at several schools;  built traveling sets through my remodeling company – small scale houses that represent homes in different countries.   I have gone on Study Tours with Heifer – to China in 2007 and most recently to Peru in 2010.

I have experienced the Passing On The Gift ceremony during these tours and trust me, there is not one person in the group who was not moved to tears.  I have seen first-hand how Heifer’s work here in America and throughout the world has made a huge difference in families lives.   The donation of an animal provides them with self-sufficiency and allows their children to go to school rather than to have to toil in the fields.

As I continue to work with Heifer, my heart is full.  Even though I do not know the families personally that are helped, I know that through my efforts and the efforts of thousands of volunteers within the Heifer organization, we have brought many smiles to peoples’ faces and that we have made their lives more fulfilling and satisfying.

Editor’s note: This week’s series about volunteering is to spotlight the Spring into Action events on March 24^th hosted by Heifer International. Read why these volunteers have dedicated their time in helping share Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. 

Q&A with Wanda Eason, Arkansas volunteer

Q: Why did you decide to become a Heifer volunteer? 

I had retired from teaching – a job I loved.  I wanted to do something fun and worthwhile with some of my time.   I knew and loved Heifer’s mission and the way it was carried out by giving animals and training to help impoverished families have a better life and become self sufficient.  I loved visiting Heifer Ranch Learning Center in Perryville, AR.  Put all of those feelings together and being a field trip guide at Heifer Ranch seemed the perfect thing to do.  I could still teach but in an outdoor classroom.  Volunteering there eventually evolved into Community Volunteering.

Q: What are your favorite aspects of volunteering with Heifer?  

Meeting new people in different settings and spreading the news about Heifer International’s work.  It is rewarding to see the positive reactions of those who have never known about Heifer or those who know the name, but  don’t know exactly what Heifer does.  I also love getting to know other Heifer volunteers when attending training, Heifer U’s, on Study Tours, when manning Heifer Booths at festivals and mission fairs, or when working on a fundraiser.  These will all be lifelong friends because we are kindred spirits.

Q: What is a particular memory that stands out to you from your time with Heifer? 

Seeing the happy and proud faces of  Heifer Project Partners in Peru and seeing first hand what a difference Heifer International has made in the lives of these people.  It was then that I knew, without a doubt,  that the time I spend educating people about Heifer International is worthwhile!

Q: Why should others volunteer with Heifer? 

One of Heifer’s cornerstones is education.  Educating not only project partners around the world, but also educating those we meet about the need in the world and about Heifer’s model to help.  With this knowledge, some will decide to make  monetary contributions to Heifer International and with those resources, Heifer can provide animals and training to more people in need. Volunteers give Heifer a personal face.  Heifer could never afford to pay employees to do all the different things that volunteers do for the organization.

Editor’s note: This week’s series about volunteering is to spotlight the Spring into Action events on March 24^th hosted by Heifer International. Read why these volunteers have dedicated their time in helping share Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. 

By  Laura Berzofsky, Volunteer, Central New Jersey

I volunteer for Heifer International because of the people I meet. From Americans working to make the world a better place, to visiting individuals from every continent, witness to the transformation made possible by the simple gift of livestock and training. It gives me hope.

About ten years ago, at Heifer’s Overlook Farm Learning Center in Rutland Massachusetts, I found myself milking a cow with a lady named Sherry, from Kenya. As we worked together, she told me how her life had been changed forever by the gift of a cow. Not only had the milk nourished her children, but also she had learned to fold the manure into the earth, enabling her to grow a variety of vegetables. Sherry’s entire community had prospered, because Heifer does not just give one animal to one family; Rather, we adopt a whole village. Sherry had led her people in “passing on the gift”, giving pregnant cows to other villages and teaching all she had learned.

Civic groups, schools, synagogues and churches were calling Heifer International, asking for speakers. Overcoming my natural shyness, I enjoyed sharing the simple truth: Heifer works! We have a tried and true formula: community-based self-help. Sustainable economics through sharing and caring. Since 1944, we’re all over the world, making an ongoing difference in the lives of the poorest of the poor.

Eager to see for myself, five years ago I cashed in a life insurance policy to travel on a Heifer Study Tour. I visited villages so remote they were inaccessible by road. We climbed down steep trails and forded streams. The houses had no running water, dirt floors. But the people were dancing for joy. Simply by folding the manure from Heifer cattle into the rice paddies, families already had doubled or tripled their yield: making the difference between hunger and prosperity.

I returned with a new perspective -aware of blessings: hot running water, stove, refrigerator, indoor plumbing. Taking to the road with renewed energy, I’ve been glad to discover, at every civic event, an outpouring of individuals, Americans, eager to learn and enthusiastic about doing something practical, proven, and easy: buy a Heifer gift card, run a read-a-thon, stage a Team Heifer event… It gives me hope.