September is Heifer Month...

By Rosalee Sinn = 39 years on the Staff of Heifer. Author: Raising Goats for Milk and Meat
Recipient of the Pearl S. Buck Women’s Award in 1989
Member since 1971 of The Church of the Pilgrimage - Served as Co-Chair of Missions and Outreach

Since the early 1970’s The Church of the Pilgrimage has supported Heifer International. A former pastor The Rev. Ed Anthony accompanied a boatload of Heifers to Germany.

Since 1975 our church has given $5,000 or more each year to purchase an “Ark” of animals for Heifer. We have welcomed goats, llamas, alpacas and chickens to join us on a Sunday morning during Heifer month. When the chickens came, the church school got to see a hen lay an egg. Several of the children got to hold the warm egg in their hands.

We have hosted special Heifer guests over the years including Beatrice Biira from Uganda whose family received a goat when she was about 9 year old. Beatrice later came to the US for college and worked for Heifer for a number of years. She now works as a Certified Nursing Assistant and has a son Jordan who will be 5 in September.

Here is a short history for those who are new to Heifer. During the Spanish Civil War, Dan West, the founder of Heifer, was handing out cups of powdered milk to weary refugees - mothers and children - and there were days when the milk ran out. And Dan thought to himself “not a cup but a cow”...If these people had cows, they would have an ongoing source of milk. And Dan went home and told his neighbors and his Church of the Brethren friends and they liked the idea.

Dan had a second idea: Every family who receives a cow would give the first offspring - the first female calf - to another person in need. That was 79 years ago...an idea so simple but so wonderful. Heifer International has not only provided cows , but goats and sheep, pigs and chicks, water buffalo…and even hives of bees, from the largest food producing animals to the smallest. This second idea called “Passing on the Gift” has been so important. Think of how you feel when you are able to share with others.

In 125 countries, including programs in the United States Heifer has helped more than 32 million families overcome hunger and poverty.

The Northeast Regional Office for Heifer was located at 16 Leyden Street from 1972-1984 With a livestock center in Plympton, Massachusetts where animals were prepared for Shipment. Now Heifer purchases most of the livestock in the country where they are raised.

For more than half of my life and more than half of Heifer’s history I have had the opportunity to be a part of this life-giving organization. In 39 countries, I have seen the difference that a cow or a goat or a flock of chicks or a hive of bees can make...food for the family, money for school fees...entire communities have changed. By supporting Heifer, we have had the blessing of being a part of a world where people care about each other and we have also “passed on the gift.

There are still 1 Billion hungry people in the world. Whether you are six or sixteen or sixty...no matter your age...you can have a part in ending hunger and caring for the earth.