St. Vincents School students help give livestock to needy families
By Sara Weikel, The Cottonwood/Holladay Journal (January 5, 2011)

The lives of many families around the world have been improved through the livestock provided to them by Heifer International. Students from St. Vincent de Paul School helped raise funds for the organization to purchase animals for more families during Catholic Schools week.

StudeSometimes all it takes for a family to get their life back on track is a little financial help, some encouragement, or a new cow. St. Vincent de Paul students participated, along with other schools from the local Catholic diocese, in raising funds for Heifer International, an organization that provides livestock animals--including cows, sheep, horses, goats, camels, llamas, pigs, chickens and bees--to impoverished families around the world. The fundraiser took place during Catholic Schools Week that began Jan. 31 and scheduled to run through Feb. 4.

"In so many of these places, they've lost their livestock," said Diocese Superintendent Sister Catherine Kamphaus.

The losses may have occurred due to a broad range of circumstances, from floods to an inability to pay for their upkeep; but replacing the animals gives these families a business and a way to be self-sufficient.

"It's not just giving them food that's gone tomorrow," Kamphaus said.

The diocese has been involved with Heifer for at least six years, not consecutively, and generally raises $10,000 to $15,000 each year. St. Vincents alone brings in about $600.

This year, part of the school's fundraising included students bringing different kinds of money to school each day of the week. They brought "pennies for pigs" on Monday, "dimes for ducks" Tuesday, "bucks for bunnies" Wednesday and "loot for llamas" on Thursday. Each child who brought donations on one of those days received a button with the day's corresponding animal on it.

"[Heifer] appeals to the kids," Vice Principal Gary Green said. "Anything with animals, little kids are crazy about."

Even though they may not understand the business benefits, even small children can grasp that giving someone an animal is a good thing, he said. The Heifer organization sends educational materials to help teachers explain to students where their donations are going, talk about different animal-related jobs around the world, and show them what good the animals will do for the families who receive them.

"Unless they're taught about it, it doesn't mean any more than getting the button," Green said.

Heifer International was founded in 1944 by American relief worker Dan West. It now reaches into 51 countries around the world, including rural areas in the U.S. and Canada. Each family is expected to pass on to another family the first new female produced by the animals given to them, as well as the knowledge of how to care for it.

"As people share their animals' offspring with others–along with their knowledge, resources and skills–an expanding network of hope, dignity and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe," according to Heifer International's website.

Photo courtesy of The Cottonwood/Holladay Journal