Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. Heifer at Hanukkah provides you a chance to donate a unique Hanukkah gift that keeps on giving.
By giving families a hand-up, not just a handout, we empower them to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity, but our approach is more than that. By bringing communities together and linking them with markets in their area, we help bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty.
Give the gift of an animal to those in need this Hanukkah. Our animals don’t just provide project partners with a reliable source of food, but also a reliable source of income. Excess agricultural products, such as milk from cows or goats, honey from bees or eggs from chickens, can be both shared within the community and sold at market. This new income, coupled with the training in sustainable practices that our partners receive, allows partners to clothe their families, provide them with medical care and send their children to school.
And when not just one but many families gain this new sustainable produce and income, it brings new opportunities for building schools, creating agricultural co-ops, and forming community savings and loan groups to help fund entrepreneurial start-ups. Newly formed women’s groups help increase the communities’ full potential, as neighbors who may have never interacted now come together to help the community prosper.
It’s a lofty goal, but it’s happening! In communities around the world, our model is helping people lift themselves from hunger and poverty. Below are just a few examples of some of the amazing successes our partners have been able to achieve.
Choose from our Gift Catalog of Hanukkah present ideas. Click below, then in the Gift Catalog click on the picture of each gift for a full description.
Their names are Garfield and Mizeki — two precious little boys in Malawi. It was in December of 2001 that their grandfather, Daniel, received a cow from Heifer International, and our project partner SSLPP in Malawi, that he knew would be the key to Garfield and Mizeki’s future. You see, in the part of the world where Daniel and his grandsons live, a single cow can unlock many doors. And for little Garfield and Mizeki, a Heifer cow is giving them an opportunity that no one in their family has ever before had: the chance to grow up free from poverty.
Breaking the cycle of poverty was no easy task. But once again, the combination of one family’s hard work and equal generosity from Heifer supporters like you are proving that seemingly simple solutions often have the greatest results. Anyone visiting the village of Msonthi, Malawi, today will see ox carts, bicycles and healthy children going to school because families now have a steady source of income. But this was not always the case.
Before becoming a Heifer partner family, Daniel supported his family by growing corn and potatoes. But he was only able to save the equivalent of about $14 each year. “We were living hand to mouth,” he said. But thanks to his Heifer cow, Daniel is earning more than $100 every month from milk sales. In addition to milk, the cows produce a lot of valuable manure. Before this project Daniel could expect to harvest roughly one ox cart of maize per acre. However, because they now have so much manure, they can produce about two carts per acre — twice as much! In the garden where they grow their potatoes, they used to only be able to harvest one or two bags. Now they can get 10 bags per year out of the same land and are earning an additional $555 annually from potato sales.
Before Heifer, the family’s health suffered greatly. “It was difficult for us to find food every day,” recalls Daniel. They ate cornmeal porridge and pumpkin leaves. “We were very weak,” he remembers. After Heifer, their health is dramatically improved. Daniel says, “In the past my family was malnourished, but now with milk to drink they are not.” He adds, “They were getting ill frequently, but now that has all stopped.” It all adds up to one very grateful grandfather, two very healthy little boys and a very happy ending.
