Sunday, April 6th marks the beginning of Volunteer Appreciation Week. This is the time of year when we give a great big shout out to our wonderful, talented, committed, amazing group of special folks we’re proud to call Heifer Volunteers.
From our beginnings in 1944, Heifer has relied on creative, enthusiastic volunteers, who come together because they feel passionate about ending hunger and poverty. In our early years it was volunteers who donated animals from their farms to the first families to benefit from Heifer. It was volunteers who accompanied these animals on their journeys to their new homes, only then we referred to them as “Cowboys.” Other volunteers became educators, advocates and fundraisers, which are the vital roles our volunteers still fill today.
Become a Heifer International Volunteer today!
Our volunteers play an important role at Heifer. They make friends and grow support in places we might not reach, promote Heifer’s faith community and school resources, endorse our work through social media. But they also donate their time and talents to work at our three learning centers, which play a vital part in educating visitors about hunger and poverty issues and sustainable development.
This year, our volunteers are bringing energy and creativity to their local Beyond Hunger Community of Change Events. They are implementing their innovative ideas on how to engage folks in their own communities with Heifer’s work. I am continually amazed at the wealth of knowledge and entrepreneurship our volunteers bring to the table to help us fulfill our mission.
There are many ways people can volunteer and every day we are grateful our volunteers choose Heifer. We thank them and more importantly, the families we assist around the world thank them for their dedication and commitment to making this world a better place.
So, if you’re a Heifer volunteer, know that you’re helping transform the lives of countless families around the world. Thank you.
If you’d like to be a volunteer (forgive this shameless advertisement), learn more about what you can do to help Heifer achieve an end to hunger and poverty.
Pat Stanley Keay has worked with Heifer volunteers for more than 24 years, first with the volunteers at Heifer Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts, and now as Director of National Community Engagement. She works from her office in Massachusetts where every day she has the privilege of being greeted by one of our stellar residential volunteers!
