November's Focus: Heifer International

Oh boy.  This month, we have chosen one of my all-time favorite non-profits for our focus.  Heifer International is a "non-profit, humanitarian assistance and sustainable development organization that specializes in providing livestock and related services to limited-resource families worldwide".  Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to also care for the livestock involved.

Heifer International began over sixty years ago when Midwestern farmer Don West was rationing out milk to hungry and thirsty children during the Spanish Civil War.  West was serving as a relief worker and was forced to decide which individuals would and would not receive the rationed milk- basically determining who would live...and who would not.  

He realized what would most benefit these children and their families was not simply another cup of rationed milk, but a cow which would continue to produce the needed milk.  Upon returning home, he founded Heifers for Relief, dedicated to ending hunger permanently by providing families with livestock and training so they could "be spared the indignity of depending on others to feed their children”.

Heifer International has since expanded into other sustaining programs and initiatives dealing with a variety of issues including agro ecology, gender equality, HIV/AIDS, microenterprise, and urban agriculture.  You can click here to see an interactive map to learn more about their programs throughout the world.  Heifer International has an excellent history of success in their endeavors and has changed the life of thousands upon thousands of individuals through their various programs.  Check out their website for more information; it is chalk full of great stuff!

Heifer also makes it easy to support them; you can click here to see their gift catalog.  We have used this catalog numerous times in the past.  Instead of buying another unnecessary (and often unwanted) material gift for friends and family, you can purchase something in the Heifer catalog in honor of that individual.  Last Christmas, we bought a flock of chicks and a trio of rabbits in honor of various family members.  My mother-in-law cried when she opened the card.  Knowing that the gift meant for her was going to change the life of a family meant so much more than a random gift we could have purchased at the mall.  And really, so many people simply do not have any room for more stuff anyway.  Why not give them a blessing this year instead?