Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
teach sustainable agriculture
PERRYVILLE, ARKANSAS
You give this gift to Third World countries—a cow, a sheep—and they
start breeding and selling them, and suddenly they have a livelihood.
—comedienne Ellen Degeneres, at a fundraiser for Heifer International's
Six Villages campaign
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Heifer International, one of the country's most visible charities thanks to its colorful
catalogs and support from dozens of movie stars, was based on the well-known adage “Give
a man a fish, you feed him today; teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” Rather
than give money or sacks of grain to help people only in the short term, Heifer International
gives breeding animals (27 different species at last count) that poor families in underdeveloped
countries can use to start their own herds and feed their families over the long haul.
The idea was incubated in 1939 when Indiana farmer Dan West, a relief worker in the
Spanish Civil War, was passing out cups of powdered milk to orphans and refugees in Spain.
Moved by their plight, he came up with his own version of the popular proverb: “Give a cow,
not a cup.”
Upon returning to the United States, West started Heifers for Relief, dedicated to provid-
ing permanent freedom from hunger by giving struggling families livestock, training, and the
ability to support themselves. The first 17 heifers—young dairy cows that could be a continu-
