Richard and Susan Eyre Named 2009 Dan West Fellow Award Recipients
Throughout his life and as Heifer International’s founder, Dan West maintained a deep commitment to helping the poor, hungry and those in the margin of the world. His vision guides Heifer Foundation and speaks to the simplest and most basic principle of charity – helping people to help themselves.
In his honor, Heifer Foundation established the Dan West Fellow Award to honor those who have given of themselves to help the less fortunate of the world. Each year, the foundation’s Trustee Emeritus Club chooses one outstanding leader to be recognized with this prestigious award. This year’s recipients, Richard and Susan Eyre, have devoted their lives to ensure that they “witness” for Heifer to anyone that they come in contact with. To read the entire story, click here.
Devastated Haiti Faces Long Road Of Rebuilding, Development
The exact toll in human life and critical infrastructure caused by the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti this week is still unknown. The Heifer International Crisis Management Team reports that the Heifer staff in Haiti are accounted for and safe.
What is certain at this point is that once the rescue and relief efforts have been completed, there will be many years of rebuilding essential infrastructure and developing agricultural and commercial enterprises to sustain the Haitian people. At Heifer Foundation, we provide long-term support for the work of Heifer International through endowments. Many of us are now looking for ways to help the survivors that have lost everything. Once the conditions on the ground have stabilized, there will be continue to be a need for long-term support as the nation begins to rebuild.
One way to support Heifer’s efforts in helping the people of Haiti put their lives back together is through country endowments, which can provide support year after year. When you give to an endowment those funds are invested and each year a percentage of the endowment is made available to the area you have specified. You can also give to the general Heifer endowment that can be used where it is most needed each year.
You can give to the Haiti country endowments through our online endowment giving Web site, Hope Equity. The following are links to the Haiti endowments as well as our Disaster Relief Endowment, which is utilized to support the efforts of Heifer’s country programs after a major crisis.
- Haiti Country Endowment
- Haiti: Carolyn W. Reynolds Endowment
- Haiti: Carolyn M. & Clarence R. Wenger Interest
- Disaster Recovery Endowment
Follow Foundation Staff Member's Travels Through Heifer Projects In Thailand Online
During the week of January 11 - 17, Shannon Boshears, marketing director for Heifer Foundation, will be journeying to Thailand to visit Heifer projects around the country. You can keep up with her travels as she posts updates on www.facebook.com/hopeequity the Facebook page of Hope Equity, the Foundation’s online endowment giving tool. The Heifer Foundation homepage and Hope Equity blog will also be updated later in the week with a compilation of her posts. To learn more about Hope Equity, visit www.hopeequity.org.
Shannon will be posting photos and video, as well as her own unique take on the projects and how they are impacting people’s lives. Her itinerary includes stops in Mae Chaem to see the Empowering Women in Upland Watersheds of Northern Thailand Project and in Chiang Dao for the Sustainable Buffalo Production Project for Self-Sufficiency.
Heifer International’s Thailand country program was established in 1986. Since then Heifer Thailand has helped rural farm families help themselves in their struggle for self-reliance and sustainability of their culture and natural resources. Heifer staff have instructed project participants in proper ways to use animals to provide draft power in the fields, utilized natural fertilizer for crops, and helped participants set up savings account so they are prepared for unforeseen events.
Heifer Thailand also emphasizes gender equity training for families as it partners with the Hmong Women’s Council of Thailand to provide instruction on how to increase families’ overall happiness and financial success through a better understanding of gender roles and working together as equals.
Heifer Thailand has also participated in several cross-border exchanges with projects in other Asian countries that have helped foster greater understanding and a shared sense of purpose. In 2004, Heifer China and Heifer Thailand initiated “Cross-Border Passing on the Gifts” program with Heifer China passing on 195 animals, including Saanen dairy goats, Meishan pigs and quality-bred rabbits, to Heifer Thailand. The program is still running and thriving across the region. In June of 2007, the "Cross-Border Passing on the Gifts Presentation Ceremony from the Royal Project Foundation of Thailand to Heifer Viet Nam" was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Two hundred rabbits from five breeds were passed on to Heifer Viet Nam, where the climate and geographical areas are suitable for raising rabbits.
Heifer Thailand is helping provide the rural Thai people with opportunities for a sustainable, viable future. Follow Shannon online as she shares her experience witnessing the life-changing work firsthand.
Former Khmer Rouge Women Discover New Path Through Heifer
There are remote areas in the highlands of Cambodia, near the Thailand border, where Heifer International projects are helping to heal the psychological wounds of a people who have, until recently, known only civil war and internal strife in their country. Heifer Foundation helps provide long-term support for these projects that do more than just supply livestock and agricultural training. These projects also help heal the wounds of war by establishing an outlet for working with others, learning new skills, and the sharing of knowledge. To read the entire story, click here.
Heifer Foundation and its employees are not engaged in rendering legal or tax advice. The content provided is for general information purposes only. Advice and assistance on specific cases should be obtained from attorneys or other professional counsel. Be aware of tax revisions. Because individual state laws govern charitable gifts, wills and trusts, the advice of an attorney should be sought when considering any of these gifts.
