Students give the gifts that keep on giving: Farm animals

Sparta - The fifth-grade students in Jessica Steffens class at Mohawk Ave. School thought they knew all there was to know about holiday gift giving and receiving ...that is, until their teacher expanded their vision to include farm animals. Each year, Steffens organizes a fund raiser her students can feel proud being involved in. Students take turns during lunch periods selling baked goods brought from home. The money raised is later donated to a charitable organization. This past December, Steffens chose the Heifer Project International Foundation, a program designed to help families in third-world countries become self sufficient by providing them with animals to use in their farms. The animals are purchased with funds raised by various churches, schools and other organizations. “I thought it would be a wonderful way to get my students involved in real-world community participation,” said Steffens, adding that her students worked diligently at home, baking and preparing their goods for sale, making posters advertising their mission, contacting others to get involved, and honing in on their best sales pitches. “Once the students know they can actually make a difference in the lives of others, it’s hard to settle their minds and their hands from jumping into action,” said Steffens. Across the globe Heifer donations are not just about cows. Refugee camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan are supplied with Fayoumi chickens, an appropriate choice for the area’s resources and conditions. Llamas and alpacas are purchased for their wool and packing power needed high in the Andes. Elephants are a popular pick in Thailand, while camels are a priority in Tanzania. Heifer donors are able to peruse gift catalogs similar to the typical L.L Bean, Pottery Barn, or Macy’s holiday catalogs, choosing from a wide variety of living creatures to send to families in need. Millions of people in more than 127 countries have been given Heifer gifts. Every family and community receiving animals also receives training in environmentally sound, sustainable agriculture. To ensure the program’s continuity, promote self esteem and community outreach, recipient families pass on their good fortune by donating a number of their animals’ offspring to other struggling families. Through the Heifer project, families are also able to send children to school and build homes, as well as feed their families. “The amazing and inspiring thing about this organization is that you are not just sending money to a family in need to ‘band-aid’ their situation for a period of time, but rather giving them the tools to learn how to survive and make a profit with the animals they are given,” said Steffens. The fifth-graders’ efforts have paid off in raising $600 for the project, $100 more than their initial goal. Fourteen families will benefit from the students’ efforts and hard work. The Sparta children chose to purchase and donate one trio of rabbits, three beehives, five flocks of chicks, one goat, one pig, and one sheep to benefit various families in need. “The saying is so true,” said Steffens, “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” For information on the Heifer International Project Foundation go to their Web site, www.heifer.org, or call toll free, 888-422-1161.