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Charity of the Month

CHARITY OF THE MONTH - HEIFER INTERNATIONAL

In December I am riding for Heifer International. Founded in 1944, Heifer International works with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth. Its approach is more than a handout. Heifer provides animals (e.g., heifers, goats, water buffalos, chickens, rabbits, fish, and bees) and training to impoverished people in over 30 countries. The animals can give milk, meat, or eggs; provide draft power; or form the basis of a small business. Communities make their own decisions about what crops, animals, and market strategies make sense for their everyday conditions and experiences.

Heifer International is based on 12 Cornerstones, such as Sustainability; Genuine Need and Justice; and Gender and Family Focus. Perhaps the best known Cornerstone is Passing on the Gift, in which Heifer recipient families pass on the offspring of their animals to others in need. In this way, whole communities can raise their standard of living.

A donation to Heifer International also can make a wonderful alternative holiday gift. Instead of yet another sweater for Grandma that she really doesn’t need, why not donate a Heifer animal or a share of an animal in her honor? Does your child really need so many new toys? Instead of five new toys, give him/her three new toys and a Heifer flock of chicks. Heifer has honor cards to let your loved ones know of your gift on their behalf.

I have set up a Team Heifer page to support Heifer International through A Year of Centuries. My goal is to raise $500. Please make your donation through https://teamheifer.heifer.org/AYearofCenturies. If you would like more information about Heifer’s work, please visit www.heifer.org. Whether you give to honor a loved one or make a regular donation, thank you for taking steps to transform the world for the better.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Rubble: Service Dog in Training


Meet Rubble.  He’s in training to be a guide dog through the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind (www.guidedog.org).  The inmates at Burruss Correctional Training Center in Forsyth, Georgia are doing most of his training.  Then, on the weekends Rubble stays with my boss Kent and his family, who reinforce Rubble’s training and help socialize him.  Sometimes Kent brings Rubble to the office on a Friday.  That makes for a good workday!

Service dogs can work in a number of capacities.  Guide dogs assist blind people; other service dogs assist deaf people, people in wheelchairs, or veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  Thank you to these dedicated animals and the people who make their service possible!

P.S. If you ever see a service dog out in public, usually designated by a jacket, don't try to pet him.  He's working!  Also, the disabled person might appreciate a kind word specifically about him/her and not the dog.  The dog gets a lot of attention, but the person can get overlooked.
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