Lifting Families to Self-Reliance

A Message from Jo Luck, Heifer International President and CEO

We know Heifer International works. For 60 years, with gifts of livestock and training, Heifer has helped hungry families lift themselves from poverty to self-reliance, quietly yet dramatically improving the lives of millions of people. But with 800 million people chronically hungry, and 3 billion living in poverty, we must do a great deal more to stop this waste of life and human potential.

Heifer has now reached a critical stage in our development. We have an opportunity to reach millions of people, giving them, along with sustainable sources of food and income, the gift of dignity and hope. Farmers could provide their families with nutritious, regular meals; children could move from fields to schoolrooms; new farming techniques could sustain and replenish the earth. People would be healthier, less likely to die of hunger or the hunger-related diseases that claim 100,000 lives every day. The need is urgent.

In response to this need, Heifer International announces Hope for the Future, a drive to substantially increase the scope and impact of Heifer’s work. Our goal: To raise $800 million by the year 2010, helping literally millions of people lift themselves up to self-reliance.

This ambitious plan includes long-term financial and program goals that will strengthen Heifer’s efforts worldwide, as well as the construction of a new global village that will expand the developed world’s understanding of hunger, and inspire many thousands of new supporters to join Heifer in providing lasting solutions.

With your help, we can provide families around the world with hope for the future.

Warmest regards,

Jo Luck

Heifer International President & CEO