This one’s my mom’s favorite charity!  It makes it pretty easy to shop for her on Mother’s Day, to be honest. Every year a basket of duckies.

Heifer International sends animals around the world.  Well, it’s a little more complicated.  What they do is train people in impoverished areas on animal husbandry and then give them an farm animal.

The idea is that having something like chickens that lay eggs or a cow that produces milk will create food for the person. And when there’s extra they can sell it, providing income for the person.  And over time as the animals reproduce the person can train their neighbors and give them an animal, thereby recreating the cycle and, hopefully, lifting an entire community out of poverty.

My personal dream is to one day be rich enough to donate an entire Ark, which is basically an entire farm.  If I’m ever able to do that I’ll really know I’ve made it.

There are lots of ways to support Heifer besides just shipping someone a beehive, cow, or flock of ducklings.  You can do some creative fundraising, volunteer, or a gazillion other things all suggested on this handy page.