Tag Archives: volunteering

Serve Today for MLK

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Are you serving today in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service?

MLK Day 2013

From The Corporation for National & Community Service’s website:

Why Serve on MLK Day of Service?

Dr. King believed in a nation of freedom and justice for all, and encouraged all citizens to live up to the purpose and potential of America by applying the principles of nonviolence to make this country a better place to live—creating the Beloved Community.

The MLK Day of Service is a way to transform Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and teachings into community action that helps solve social problems. That service may meet a tangible need, or it may meet a need of the spirit. On this day, Americans of every age and background celebrate Dr. King through service projects that strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions.

The MLK Day of Service takes place the third Monday in January each year. It’s the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.” It’s a day for Americans to turn their day out of the office or classroom into a day to make an impact in their communities.

Heifer Cameroon

Heifer Cameroon participant serving others. Photo by Jake Lyell, courtesy of Heifer International.

Strengthening communities is a key part of Heifer’s work around the world. It is only within healthy, vibrant communities that hunger, poverty and environmental harm can truly be ended.

How easy is it for us to go about our everyday lives without taking our own communities into consideration? If for only one day each year you lift your head and take notice and action, I urge you to make it today.

Dr. King once said, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.” Where will you serve today? Tell us in the comments section below.

We Are The Heifer Ranch Volunteers

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Editor’s Note: The following post was written by Heifer Ranch volunteers. Stay tuned in 2013 for our upcoming Heifer Blog series, Volunteer Voices.

More than ever, it is often difficult to feel hopeful about the future – especially when one billion people live in urban slums, and nearly 870 million chronically hungry. Sometimes, it seems that our worries focus more on making money and the status of our economy rather than the plight of those less fortunate than we are. Yet, if we take a moment to slow down, there are people all around us dedicating their time and heart to local, national, and international causes that do make the world a better place. A bell is often ringing outside our supermarkets for the Salvation Army, your barista may mentor refugee children in return for a smile, and on cold winter nights food finds its way into the hands of those who do not have a home to come back to.

Here on the Heifer Ranch there are volunteers from all around the world who come and live on the ranch full-time. We work in the CSA garden, raise and care for livestock, work with school groups, and simply maintain the ranch as a whole.

Heifer Ranch volunteers

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

But why do we volunteer? Why do people give so much of their time and effort and receive nothing in return? Often volunteering is a learning experience. Many of us had never been on a ranch before, knew nothing about raising livestock, sustainable agriculture, or issues relating to hunger and poverty, yet by being here and pushing ourselves, we have grown. Those that had never touched a sheep in person are now trimming their hooves. We know how to water a garden using a treadle pump after growing up having to just turn a faucet to receive this precious liquid. We have learned how to absorb the staggering statistics revolving around hunger and poverty and then convey this to students in a way that impacts and empowers them to act. And, we have all found ourselves acquiring mountains of crafty knowledge we had never envisioned prior to our arrival. Yet we also learn about who we are, about what we hold dear to ourselves, and what we want in the future.

From this, it may seem that volunteering is a personal activity, one that we do to learn or make ourselves happy. And though this may play a role in us being motivated to volunteer, this is normally not the reason one chooses to volunteer. There are many ways we can learn and gain experience while at the same time receiving something in return, like a job. And yes we often do find joy in the act of volunteering, but this seems to be an unavoidable side affect of performing a selfless act that helps aid others in need. Despite this, happiness is not the motivation of volunteers, because there are many other ways we could be spending our time that would load us full of such hedonistic feelings.

What brings us to volunteer is passion. We find ourselves captivated by so many different things, and for each person our drive is focused differently. Through volunteering we are able to translate our passion into a positive force. Those that are transfixed by the plight of the homeless in their community spend time at food banks and kitchens for the homeless. Those who dream of a food system where we can all thrive and be healthy spend time in community gardens. And those who are captivated by the struggle of those less fortunate in all corners of the Earth volunteer for organizations like Heifer, providing a hand up to those who see no help in sight.

Volunteering is a crucial action. It is one that humbles us, allows us to push past the individualism which often holds us back, gives to those who cannot give, and creates a loving community from which we all can thrive.

It is not that we all become full time residential volunteers, but that we can find the time to volunteer in some capacity. For no matter how small or how little time we have to give we make a difference. We fill a belly, bring about a smile, and empower someone who has never felt powerful.

Volunteers strive to reach that better world and motivate others to take time out of a busy schedule to perform a selfless deed and create a beautiful place to live. We have hope, hope in future where far more people perform work, thinking of someone other than themselves, hope for a better world. And as we write, we have faith that hope will become realize. More people are volunteering and, as on the sign one sees departing the Heifer Ranch, more people “go in peace.”

Heifer Ranch sign.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Learn more about the Heifer Ranch, or find out how to become a Heifer Ranch volunteer!

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.

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.

Finding Inspiration Close to Home

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One of my favorite things about my job is traveling around the world and meeting the incredible people with whom we work – the inspiring women, the innovative men, and the curious children.

And sometimes, to meet such people, my travel is much shorter, just an hour’s drive away to Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas.

I traveled with Heifer’s executive leadership team and Ish from sr4partners (incredible organization, you should check them out!) and we spent almost two days at the Heifer Ranch. Our group consisted of Steve Denne, COO; Bob Bloom, CFO; Cindy Jones-Nyland, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Resource Development ; Leesa Ferguson, Vice President of Human Resources, René Rockwell, Executive Office Director and Board Liaison; Hilary Haddigan, Director of Planning and Effectiveness; and of course, myself.

During our stay we were invited to dinner with the volunteers (these volunteers actually live and work on the farm). The catch? We were cooking dinner!

The first order of business was to review our ingredients and see what we could create.

There was a delicious array of food (not shown above!) grown by the wonderful people at the Ranch.

So we organized our menu, assigned tasks and we got to work!

As the meal began to come together, the kitchen filled with jokes, stories and laughter.

It wasn’t as if this was our first time together. We all see each other in meetings and around the office and we talk… a LOT…every day. The difference, of course, was the environment. Oh and the food! There’s something incredible about cooking your meal and knowing that the food that you’re preparing came from the land, just outside. Heifer Ranch has a great Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that provides seasonal produce from the end of April until September and all the food is grown in a certified, organic, agricultural environment - now that’s what I call good eating!

Our finished spread was delicious and included fried chicken, pasta with a marinara sauce, stuffed bell peppers, a chocolate bread pudding, and additional treats provided by the volunteers.

But that wasn’t even the best part. The highlight was the opportunity to break bread with various Ranch volunteers and other Heifer co-workers. It wasn’t just about the food

(although it was a delightful perk!), it was also about the conversation and camaraderie.

The Ranch has these incredible volunteers that come from across the United States and even from other countries (a current volunteer is from Morocco!) and they range from students just out of high school to retirees. There jobs entail so much more than just tending to the agriculture. They also lead the educational programming, care for livestock, maintain facilities and provide operations support.

This was Ish’s second time at the Ranch and I asked him what he thought. He said, “From the moment you are at the Ranch and meeting with the volunteers and staff, you can just feel the commitment and the dedication. This is Heifer’s mission and vision in action. All of these people are committed to Heifer’s inspiring work.”

And he’s absolutely right. What matters to these people is the ability to serve and work towards Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. They want to see a change, and they recognize that they can help set the wheels in motion. It really is inspiring.

In our conversations, we learned the stories of the volunteers, how they heard about Heifer, what their future plans were and we even had some volunteers share their innovative ideas (I have a whole list!). One volunteer shared with us: “The Ranch changed my life. I feel strongly connected to making sure it continues to be a source of empowerment, knowledge and motivation.”

In addition to discussions of ending hunger and poverty, we managed to squeeze in a few games of Foosball. It’s one of the rare times you’ll see Steve and me on opposite teams. I think I held my own!

It was an early night for us as Steve, Cindy, Bob, Leesa, René, Hilary, and I still had another day of discussions and brainstorming. But a dinner with the volunteers was just what we needed to keep up our momentum and morale.

If you’re looking for a way to connect to Heifer’s work closer to home, I highly suggest a visit to Heifer’s Ranch. For more information, visit Heifer’s website.

I thank the wonderful volunteers at the Ranch for a lovely time and I can’t wait for my next visit.

Heifer Staff Hoofed it for Heifer

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This guest post was written by Lo Vongsaravane, Finance Assistant for the Asia/South Pacific Area.

First Annual Hoof it for HeiferIt was a great experience for me to participate in my first trail run at Petit Jean State Park for the Hoof It For Heifer on April 14th , especially one that was in support of the great place where I work. I think the event was a great fit since part of the mission is to care for the Earth.  Runners enjoying the beautiful trail are reminded of why we should do our part to protect the environment.  The event would not have been successful without the wonderful volunteers who support Heifer.

Heifer staff Hoof it for HeiferFirst, let me start off by saying that socks are a necessity when you are doing a trail run.  I learned that the hard way at the fourth mile marker. I want to give my many thanks to the kind volunteer who offered up her socks at the aid station. I don’t think it would have been possible for me to finish the race in the allotted 6 hours because I would be crawling due to severely blistered feet.  I didn’t necessarily jump at thought of waking up at 4am on Saturday morning, but it really wasn’t that difficult due to the anticipation of doing the race.  I needed to drive from Little Rock to Morrilton which was about an hour and half. I made sure that I made it in time for the 7am start or I would be disappointed at myself for missing an opportunity to take part.  I was excited that I had other staff join me for the race, Jesus and Ileana.  A former staff also came with me, Andy.  They were all excited about the race and pretty good runners. It was great seeing all the runners that came out to support Heifer, who woke up early on a Saturday morning, and willingly endured 12 miles of some tough terrain.  The weather was perfect for the race.  The trail was very scenic which helped me take my mind off the knee and leg pain during the latter part of the race.   My favorite parts were passing all the rock formations and the creeks. A couple of runners fell into the creek, but they worked through it. I also took some falls on the tricky portions of the trail and was able to trudge through it.  As I headed towards the finish, the cheers from the volunteers were encouraging.  I need to express how much the volunteers have motivated me to do more personally, the way they happily offer their time and money in the event to support Heifer and its mission.  I’m proud to have finished the race as many other runners did.

I think the race was very well organized, especially for being its first year. The Race Director, Wanda Eason, did an awesome job in coordination from beginning to end. The hard work of all in putting the event together is truly appreciated.  I definitely look forward to doing another Hoof It for Heifer soon, with socks.

Spring Into Action Brings New Volunteers to Heifer

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On Saturday, March 24, Heifer’s community volunteer program launched its first multi-city community engagement event, Spring Into Action. Designed to reenergize current volunteers and recruit new volunteers, this event attracted more than 350 people in 17 locations across the country, including Seattle, Washington;  Westbrook, Maine;  Los Angeles, California; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Serinda Swan at LA Spring Into Action Event

Serinda Swan attended the Spring Into Action–Los Angeles event to speak to guests about her experience seeing Heifer's work in action at a project in Cambodia.

In addition to updates from Heifer and sharing of resource materials, participants heard presentations from representatives of schools, congregations, civic groups, and others who are ambassadors for Heifer in their communities. Current volunteers expressed renewed motivation for their work on Heifer’s behalf, while those new to Heifer’s volunteer program were excited to learn about the many and varied ways individuals and groups can be involved with Heifer.

Expected to become an annual event, Heifer’s first Spring Into Action was definitely a success, attracting more than 125 new volunteers and new potential area volunteer coordinators in several key areas.

If you missed our Spring Into Acton 2012 event, keep your eye out for it next year! Or you can learn more about Heifer’s national community volunteer program and apply online to be a volunteer today.

View more Spring Into Action photos on our Flickr account.