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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.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Literacy in Georgia

From the website of the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy (www.ferstfoundation.org):
 
1 in 5 children in Georgia lives in poverty.
 
Approximately 61% of low-income families do not have a single piece of reading material suitable for a child.
 
A third of our children come to school unprepared to learn.
 
Only 29% of Georgia 4th graders read at or above proficiency.
 
We have the nation's third highest rate of high school dropouts.
 
One in four adults in Georgia operates at a low literacy level.
 
Illiteracy and low literate workers cost Atlanta $2.6 billion and Georgia businesses $7 billion each year.
 
Several states plan how many jail cells they will build in the future by how many children are not reading on grade level by third grade.
 
 
With your help, this can change.  Thank you for your donation to the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy.
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