Our Tennessee grandchildren are visiting us this week.  Every Christmas Bev makes a contribution in their name to the Heifer Project, and she wanted them to be able to see first-hand what Heifer does. 

HP is a non-profit organization that donates animals to people around the world who need a way to provide food and income for their families.  A heifer, for example, would provide milk and cheese for a family.  The heifer’s first calf would also be donated by that family to another family so that the blessings are passed on.

HP donates goats, llamas, ostriches, water buffaloes, chickens, rabbits, bees, and ducks, based on the needs of the individuals or villages.  It is an incredibly wise program because it teaches self-sufficiency, promotes community cooperation, and breaks the cycle of poverty.

Heifer Project has an Education Center in Ceres, California, about 35 miles north of Merced.  This center is a working farm where visitors can see various crops being raised, housing typical of various communities around the world, and a large variety of the animals they donate to people.

We concluded the tour by seeing a video that told the stories of some of the people that Heifer had benefited.  Beatrice was a little girl whose family received a Heifer animal, and she was sponsored to come to the U.S. to get her college degree.  Heifer Project is a genuinely good way to bless people by empowering them.