Heifer International

Heifer International

Have you ever considered giving someone a goat for Christmas? Or a water buffalo? Bees? A chicken? The folks at Heifer International gives these types of gifts, and many more, each year to families living in poverty.

Watch Alton's 60 second video to learn a bit more about Heifer International and their program that gives people a "hand up" and not a "hand out".

From their website:

Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.

By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, we empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.
With gifts of livestock and training, we help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of our mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.


In their gift catalog, you can buy shares of an animal for as little at $10. You can give the gift of an entire flock of baby chicks, geese or ducks for $20. You can give the gift of honey bees for $30. There are also gifts of seeds, trees and other earth products.

What will your $20 gift of chicks do???

Chicks: A Good Choice

A flock of chicks can help families from Cameroon to the Caribbean add nourishing, life-sustaining eggs to their inadequate diets.

The protein in just one egg is a nutritious gift for a hungry child. Protein-packed eggs from even a single chicken can make a life-saving difference.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year - plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients' commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and poverty.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

In Tanzania, Omari and Kulwa were struggling to raise a family on just 50 cents a day. With the training and chicks they received from Heifer, egg sales have boosted their daily income to $2, so they can now buy food and still pay school fees. Now, through passing on the gift, all of the children in their village are going to school.

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Check out Heifer International and see if their mission is something you want to support.