Getting the Word Out!

Getting people out to the market is a big push at this year's market. We've added all kinds of new tools to our publicity arsenal. We have two blogs, this one and the Change for Kids Challenge blog. We've put together an extensive press kit that we are sending out to all the media outlets in Grand Rapids, and we're actively recruiting churches for the Change for Kids Challenge via a telemarketing campaign.
Currently, we've sent out 11 press kits with another wave set to go in early October and we've contacted 336 churches via the phone. 164 churches have requested further information either by snail mail or email.
You can help by taking the message to your local organization and recruiting them to come to the market and/or participate in the Change for Kids Challenge. For fliers and brochures contact us through our email address, heiferhappening@gmail.com.

David Boothby: Our Honored Guest

David Boothby has been our regional volunteer coordinator. He is retiring soon, but he plans to continue working for Heifer as a volunteer. In that capacity he is coming to the market to help us introduce people to Heifer's mission. We will be honoring Mr. Boothby's 33 years of service throughout the day at the Living Gift Market.
David got interested in Heifer when he brought a youth group to the Heifer Ranch in 1974. From there his interest grew and eventually he signed on. Working for Heifer has sent him to 11 different countries of which, China was his favorite. He was the first American ever to visit the village where the Heifer project was located.
Make sure you look David up at the market. He has lots of stories to tell, and he knows the ins and outs of Heifer better than anyone.

How Does Heifer End Hunger?

Heifer's Steps to Sustainable Development

1. Community groups approach Heifer International for help in setting up an animal or agriculture project.

2. Country program staff meet with applicants to make sure the group's goals are compatible with Heifer's mission and that they have the capacity to carry out the project successfully. Heifer staff and project participants go through a careful planning process to decide which animals or crops would be most beneficial.

3. The project plans are submitted to the Heifer International headquarters for approval.

4. Before receiving their animals, project participants must first undergo rigorous training to learn about Heifer's Cornerstones such as gender equity and sharing and caring, which will guide them toward just and sustainable development. For many participants, the training is as important as the animals they receive.

5. Families build shelters and other facilities needed to keep animals healthy. Often, families build zero-grazing facilities - airy pens with elevated floors that keep animals with destructive grazing habits away from valuable crops. They also may plant trees and grasses to be used to feed their new animals.

6. Once families receive Heifer animals, they put their training to use. Soon, eggs, milk and meat improve nutrition. Extra eggs and milk can be sold to improve income, while animal manure fertilizes crops. Bees produce honey, and trees, vegetables, fruit and other crops begin to produce food, fuel and fibers. Water buffalo, oxen and camels provide draft power that makes farming and transportation much easier.

7. It's now time for project partners to pass on the gift of self-reliance to others. Heifer recipients pass one one or more of their animal's offspring, training and skills to another family in need. The new recipients agree to pass on the gift as well, creating a chain of giving that can touch thousands of lives.

8. Heifer project partners share stories of their successes with other groups. Project participants encourage others to seek Heifer's help so that they, too, can become self-reliant.

Music From Around the World

Pam Clevenger has been playing the violin for 40 years. This year she'll be playing for us. Pam is busy assembling folk tunes from around the world to add spice to our market. So far her favorite music comes from Bosnia. Bosnian music is a mixture of Turkish and Middle-Eastern sounds. The most difficult music to find for violin has been African music because African music is so highly rhythmic.
Pam's favorite Heifer animal is the water buffalo, and she believes the best thing about Heifer is passing on the gift. Knowing that her animal donation won't stop with the person who receives it makes giving to Heifer inspiring.
Follow your ears to find Pam at the market. Music makes the whole world kin. Thanks, Pam, for working so hard to draw us together.

Children will be busy, busy, busy, at the Market.

There has always been lots for children to see and do at Heifer Happening, but this year's market is bursting with activities even before they step in the door. Let's take a look at a young person's potential schedule at this year's market.

September 30--Pick up the Fill The Ark Bank and Calendar and begin the four week program of learning about world hunger and Heifer's friendly animal solutions. Start filling the bank one nickel at a time.
October 27--Head out to Heifer Happening.
Arrive at Wesley Park UMC and say hello to the Alpaca on the church lawn.
Receive the Market Passport filled with games and activities and opportunities to win prizes.
Dash over to the Change for Kids Challenge booth to have the change in the Ark bank counted and be entered into the "You Really Got Our Goat!" Competition.
Meet the animals and learn about how they help families provide food, clothing, shelter and education to children around the world.
Take a tour of the world by visiting the Project booths.
Listen to the Storyteller and learn some songs at the Heifer Theater. Hang around to see the video about Beatrice Biira, from the book Beatrice's Goat, now that she is all grown up.
Take a break and get some food downstairs. All this talk about World Hunger can sure get your tummy rumbling!
Drop by the craft table for face painting and fun craft projects with Lori.
Look at the cool fair-trade purchases mom made.
Say goodbye to the alpaca on your way back to the car, full of happy memories and dreams for a world without hunger.

Trees fight hunger too!

Trees are essential to life on earth. They breathe out oxygen and breathe in carbon dioxide. They hold water in the soil and moisture in the air. They provide food and medicines for birds, animals and people. That's why planting fast-growing trees that put back nitrogen in the soil, serve as wind-breaks and provide fodder, fencing and firewood is often the first step in an HPI project.
Our project in Guatemala will be establishing tree nurseries to promote sustainable agricultural practices for soil conservation such as live barriers, terracing, irrigation channels, minimum tillage, use of stubble and vermiculture, steep slopes reforestation and implementation of a nursery in each community. The project in Vietnam will be using trees as living fences for the dairy cattle we will be providing them.
Come to the market and be sure to stop by the tree booth to find out all the many ways that Heifer trees are fighting hunger around the world.

Fish Booth Addition was Inspired!

Kyle Christenson came to the first Living Gift Market and decided something was missing. We needed a fish booth! Kyle loves to fish, so he felt that we needed to know more about how fish contribute to the end of world hunger.
This year, Gambusia fish will be sent to the Navajo project. Gambusia fish are voracious eaters of mosquitoes and their larvae. Fish are often used in Heifer's Urban projects. The Living Machine aquaponic trough system provides space for a horticultural crop to be grown as well as the fish, either for personal consumption or for sale. These are just a few examples culled from Heifer projects that utilize fish.
Come to the market and get the full scoop on fish. Thanks, Kyle, for inspiring us. If you're feeling inspired to sponsor a booth, the fish booth is still available.

Three or Four Nickels

Here is a sample of the daily readings from the four-week calendar that forms the backbone of the Change for Kids Challenge. Every night as families sit down to dinner they have a little paragraph like this one to read and a giving challenge.
Teaching children about world hunger is a difficult task for any parent to undertake. The Heifer Fill the Ark Calendar and Bank helps parents present the problem with enough hope that children come away from the experience feeling empowered instead of overwhelmed. Three or four nickels is all it takes to help children begin to understand the importance of helping others.
Won't you as a church family undertake to help your children begin the lifelong habit of remembering those who won't be eating before they sit down to dinner? One little boy put his lunch in Jesus hands and 5,000 were fed. Let's see what God will do with your children's spare change.

Goat Booth Welcomes Change for Kids Challenge Participants

Jean Kuhlman, a market veteran and Judy Hyunh's sister, heads up our goat booth. Her granddaughter, Ali Chipman, has a good 4H goat that she brings to the market, and her grandmother prepares the booth. When I asked Jean what she liked best about goats, she said it was their versatility. Goats are easy to raise and fun.
Although they appear tough and gruff, goats are actually so gentle that it's usually the family's children who regularly care for them. In this way, goats really do become "nannies;" teaching their young caregivers all kinds of skills while building their self-esteem.
More and more children around the world are getting their protein from goat's milk. That's because goats thrive in extreme climates where other livestock can't, and eat grasses and leaves that cause other animals to turn up their noses (or snouts)! And if it's a Heifer goat, one struggling family can receive up to a gallon of milk from it every single day. That's more than enough milk not only to drink, but to use to make cheese, butter or yogurt, plus to sell whatever's left and buy much-needed clothes, school supplies and medicine.
We're sure that Jean and Ali will be busy this year as the children who have been saving up change for the Change for Kids Challenge drop by to see this year's star animal--the goat.
The goat booth is sponsored by Grand River Physical Therapy this year.

Change for Kids Challenge Update

In order to help churches get to the information about the Change for Kids Challenge more directly, I've created a special blog just for this aspect of Heifer Happening. As churches sign up, I'll post that information there, as well as details of the contest.
You can view the blog at http://changeforkids.blogspot.com/.

LaFont sees the Ducks and Geese. Sheep go Underground.

The LaFontsee Gallery/Underground Studio is sponsoring both the Ducks and Geese booth and the Sheep booth. An eye for truth and beauty inspired these important members of the local art scene to see the value of ending hunger. The LaFontsee Gallery is no newcomer to charitable activities. They are currently involved in supporting numerous charities of many sorts including God's Kitchen, Gilda's Club, and the Urban Institute for the Contemporary Arts.
Ducks and sheep will be given to the Navajo Project. The ducks will be part of an early detection system for the West Nile Virus, allowing the community to take action against the spread of the disease before it reaches levels threatening to humans and larger livestock. The sheep are part of a selective breeding program that aims to improve the genes of the local sheep herd.
Thank you, LaFontsee Galleries, for having the vision to provide hope.

All a Buzz about the Cow Booth

Carolyn Buskirk has the warm knowing voice of a grandmother. As we settled into our conversation about the cow booth, it was obvious that she loves working at the market. Carolyn has been a part of Heifer Happening since the first market when KeLinda Scott asked if there was anyone who could help with the animal booths. The Buskirks had been dairy farmers, so Carolyn took on the cow booth.
Making it fun for the children who come to the market was one of Carolyn's first considerations so she incorporated a game. "I enjoy the little children and watching them play the game I made for the booth. The game is a wheel with a spinner divided up into the different Heifer animals. Each child gets five spins of the wheel and if it lands on the cow they get a prize. They almost always get a prize even if it doesn’t land on the cow," she says with a chuckle.
Carolyn also values the opportunity to help people understand the importance of cows, and the value of milk. A single Heifer cow can deliver up to four gallons of protein-packed milk every day. Giving one of these cows to a hungry family changes their lives. These four gallons of milk provide children with the nourishment they need to head off to school. A school that many children are able to attend only because of their Heifer cow. Income earned by selling surplus milk pays for tuition as well as medicine, clothing and better housing.
Heifer cows can help crops grow. They are after all a natural fertilizer factory. Because a healthy cow can have a calf every year, the gift of a cow could eventually help an entire community move from poverty to self-reliance.
Brann's Steakhouse is proudly sponsoring the cow booth this year, and they've provided Carolyn with coupons for the first 100 visitors. Make sure you stop by the cow booth early.