Heifer International

Do you have a favorite charity?

When talking about Christmas gifts for the upcoming holiday season, my mother very seriously asked that we not give her material gifts this year. Instead, she would prefer it if we donated money to a charity in her name. She specifically suggested Heifer International as an example.

I then had a flashback to a Christmas during my teen-aged years where my mother did this very thing. I distinctly remember opening an envelope and reading something about "honeybees." Neither my brothers or I understood what it meant at first, and I'm sure some jokes were thrown around, being the joking family that we are.

But after the wrapping paper and boxes had all been thrown away, I began sorting and organizing my pile of gifts.

I came across a card from Heifer International, and then understood the full meaning of the gift. My mom had donated money to Heifer in my name, so that a needy family somewhere in the world would receive honeybees. Neat, huh?

For over 60 years, Heifer International has helped people get out of poverty and starvation. This worldwide organization promotes education, sustainable agriculture, local industry, and clean water in 53 countries/provinces and 28 U.S. states.

To quote from their website:
"Heifer has learned over the years that a holistic approach is necessary in order to build sustainable communities. So we’ve developed a set of global initiatives – areas of emphasis that must be addressed if we’re to meet our mission of ending world hunger and poverty and caring for the earth."

Heifer does this through education, taking the time to teach families how to take care of themselves. It is not simply a handout. They give pigs, sheep, and chickens to families so their children have meat to eat, warm clothes to wear, and eggs to eat. Among the other gifts are trees, flocks of chicks, and knitting baskets.

For example, this is what would have happened after my mother's gift of "honeybees."

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Bees from Heifer International help struggling families earn income through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen.

Beehives require almost no space and, once established, are inexpensive to maintain.

As bees search for nectar, they pollinate plants. Placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable yields. In this way, a beehive can be a boost to a whole village.

Although most Heifer partners keep bees as a supplement to family income, beekeeping can be a family's livelihood. Your gift can help Heifer provide a family with a package of bees, the box and hive, plus training in beekeeping.

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My former classmate, best-selling author Pat Rothfuss, has recently started an extremely generous endeavor with the true spirit of giving in mind.

Through Heifer's website, Pat initially set out to raise $5,000 and planned to match each donation, dollar for dollar.

However, after an overwhelming response, he increased his fund-raising goal to $10,000. As of today, he has already raised over $10,000.

And now, Pat has further increased his goal to $20,000.

Folks, that means $20,000 worth of donations to Heifer becomes $40,000 with Pat's generous matching offer!

(And as if the simple act of giving wasn't reward enough, Pat has also created an incentive contest where he will be drawing names for various prizes, such as a signed copy of his book "The Name of the Wind.")

If you would like to join in on Pat's matching donation program, click HERE to go to his Donation Page. But hurry!! Pat will only be matching donations until December 11th.

Perhaps you are wondering how your donation is distributed. You can find more information at Heifer International. Additionally, Pat has done a good job of answering this question on his own blog:

• "How much of my donation to Heifer goes to actually helping people?"
  

This is a fair question. A lot of so-called charities are actually just scams that collect money, then use a very small amount of it for the intended purpose. But trust me that I've done my research. Heifer is an award-winning charity for a reason. They've been doing good works for over 60 years. Heifer keeps all its financial records available to the public, and 75% of everything it collects go directly toward helping people. Here's a nice visual breakdown from Heifer's site.

You can see here that less than seven percent of their money goes toward administration. That's exceptional.

If you are looking for a legitimate organization to donate to this holiday season, Heifer International is definitely a worthy cause.

By choosing to donate in loved one's name this holiday season, you will not only avoid the hassle of shopping malls and gift receipts, but you'll also feel warm and fuzzy knowing that you have helped to make the world a better place.

Isn't that the best gift anyone could ever receive?