Arkansas Agriculture Edition 26 : Page 8
Home Help Heifer International also works in the U.S. The Gibbs Road Community Farm is a partnership project with Heifer International and Cultivate Kansas City to help connect farmers with markets for their produce. linked by the desire to end the cycle of poverty and hunger affecting 925 million people in 2010, according to the World Hunger Education Service. Heifer International grew from Indiana farmer Dan West’s belief that giving people the means to feed themselves had long-term benefits for the poor. In 1944, he created Heifers for Relief, a program dedicated to ending hunger by providing families with livestock and training, so they could feed their families, as well as share their knowledge and the animals with others in need. Giving people a source of food, not just food itself, was the guiding principle. Heifers for Relief began by shipping 17 heifers to Puerto Rico, firmly laying the cornerstone for Heifer International’s dedication to “passing on the gift.” Heifer’s livestock gifts now include pigs, goats, chickens, water buffalos and other animals. Here’s how it works. Heifer makes a gift of farm animals such as goats to families in communities and villages around the world who could benefit from these “living gifts.” Milk from the goat supplements the family’s food supply plus gives them a product to sell or share with others. When their goat has its first female offspring, they are required to “pass on the gift” to another needy family who also will pass on its first female offspring. With the other offspring from their goats, it’s the beginning of a herd they can sell or keep to provide a sustainable means of existence for themselves. 6 Arkansas Agriculture Heifer International
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