The Lakewood students who participated in the program./Contributed photo
Third grade students at Lakewood School have been busy reading books for pleasure, and to become better readers, and at the same time they have been helping end world hunger and improve the environment through Heifer International’s Read to Feed program. The sponsored program helps students raise money for Heifer to provide livestock, seeds, trees, and training to families in need around the world.
With Read to Feed, students enlist sponsors who pledge donations—a dime, a quarter, a dollar a book, any amount, really. Then they read, and as they finish more books, the pledges grow higher until at the end of the program, the children gather the pledges, pool their money and donate the total collected to Heifer to use to help families build sustainable lives and to become self-reliant. No matter the size of the gift, the impact is great. Just $20 buys a flock of chicks, which can provide a family protein through eggs and an income. For $60, students can buy trees to provide fruit for a family and at the same time help protect the soil. For $120, students can give a family a goat, which provides milk for the home and to sell for income to pay for school fees, medical care and to use to build a better, more hopeful life.
At Lakewood School, students raised $470, enough to purchase a water buffalo, a goat, a trio of rabbits, a flock of ducks, and a flock of chicks.
“I really liked helping people in need,” said student Alex Delrios.
“I think this fundraiser was fun, and I liked picking the animals we wanted to donate,†said student Nathan Lykouretzos.
The gift will continue to grow through Heifer’s cornerstone Passing on the Gift. With this, each family agrees to share their animal’s first-born female offspring, as well as the education and training they received, with another family, multiplying the benefit. Receivers become givers and over time a community is lifted. Through Read to Feed, not only are the children learning to love to read, but they are also learning how wonderful it feels to help others in need, and the needs of hungry and poverty stricken families can be satisfied, too. Read to Feed is an exciting adventure for children. Along the way, they learn many important lessons. They learn about different cultures around the world and learn the importance of using the Earth’s resources wisely. They learn the value of self-reliance. Maybe most important, they learn that they can make a difference in the world. Heifer’s mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the earth.
Since 1944, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in more than 50 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities in need become more self-reliant. For more information, visit www.heifer.org or call 1-800-696-1918.
