A Dress A Day

A dress.
Mostly every day.

December 02, 2006

Wool you help?

Heifer InternationalSorry for the bad pun, but this year I'd really like to see if I can encourage y'all to donate to Heifer International, one of my favorite charities. They help poor families all over the world by giving them animals -- animals that then help their owners out of poverty.

One of the most effective anti-poverty animals is the sheep -- and it's one that ought to be the easiest for all of us sewers to give! A few sheep can give a family not just meat and wool for themselves, but enough extra to sell and pay for better housing, medical care, and education. And, they're cute!

So if you check there to the right in the sidebar I have one of those nifty thermometers. It would be great if we could donate enough to buy ten sheep ($1200)! If everyone who comes to this site every day each gave just one dollar, we'd have more than enough ... whaddaya say? Wool you help?

posted by Erin @ 10:12 AM  

28 Comments:

  • At Dec 2, 2006 2:22:00 PM, Anonymous marciamarcia said…

    Hi, sorry can't find where to
    give. ?Do we see the thermometera?
    Marcia

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 2:43:00 PM, Anonymous stephanie said…

    brilliant!! so fun!! best gift catalog i've seen yet this year!!!!!

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 3:48:00 PM, Blogger Bethany said…

    Right on Erin...we always give Heifer gifts to our family every year (even to the weirdos who have no idea what it is and keep wondering if a flock of geese is being shipped to them.) I will gladly donate via your link...thanks for the reminder and the opportunity to give.

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 4:23:00 PM, Anonymous Anne said…

    lol.... love your title there...

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 4:30:00 PM, Anonymous Emily said…

    Thank you sooo much for posting about Hefier International!!!! It's an organization that is very close to my heart. I'm a teenager who goes to a small private school, and last year around this time, my class decided to do a charity project to help those less fortunate. We decided to raise money to buy and arc ($5,000). We all chipped in with different fund raisers from bake sales to car washes. Me and my friends knitted scarfs and hats and I sewed simple 60's-style shift dresses with prints of farm animals on them and we sold them on Ebay. (all profits went to the Heifer fund) We ended up rasing over $6,000 for Heifer and in return each and every one of us who had helped got a cerificate of recognition from Heifer and the joy of knowing we had helped someone less fortunate then ourselves.

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 6:17:00 PM, Blogger Phyllis said…

    Both of my kids are doing a Heifer Intl. project right now in class. Truly a worthy chartiable organization. Both girls are really fired up - they really get it and are excited to do it.

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 6:32:00 PM, Anonymous Susan said…

    What a cool idea! Thanks for posting, and good luck with reaching your goal!

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 6:37:00 PM, Blogger Alice said…

    I'm happy to have the reminder, I gave last year as part of a workplace gift exchange.

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 7:15:00 PM, Anonymous Grace said…

    Thanks for the Heifer plug, Erin. My cousin is the Executive Director of Heifer Hong Kong, so I've always been partial to that organization myself too.

    Grace

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 8:08:00 PM, Blogger Welmoed said…

    For some reason I missed the thermometer... instead, I clicked on the link in the text of your story. I ended up buying a "Basket of Hope" in honor of my goddaughter's 12th birthday (her idea!!!).

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 8:14:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    as an ex-sheepfarmer (i mean ex-shepherdess, as my old boyfriend was fond of saying), i'll definitely contribute....

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 9:52:00 PM, Anonymous cazzy said…

    This is a great program - I gave my mother six chickens through a similar program we have here in Australia last year. She put the certificate in her chicken hutch to let her chickens know they have friends worldwide.

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 10:52:00 PM, Anonymous Robinson said…

    I love Heifer International. We were "given a goat" one year and I've been a fan ever since. A hand up is so much better than a hand out and I also love anything to do with sustainable agriculture which Heifer International also promotes. And not just "other" places. They do a lot of work in the U.S. too.

     

  • At Dec 2, 2006 11:00:00 PM, Blogger Melanie said…

    wonderful charity, Erin! The children at my church do a Heifer project each year in conjunction with Thanksgiving and this year they raised enough $ for 2 Arcs!! Truly amazing. I also love the stipulation that the recipient of the animal must pass an offspring of their animal on to a neighbor. Gift that keeps on giving. I will gladly give more. Thanks for your blog!!

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 1:18:00 AM, Anonymous Well Rounded Dresser said…

    Just upped the thermometer a tad. Thanks for a great idea.

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 3:41:00 AM, Blogger Merle said…

    ME too, am sidelbarless, but also clicked on link and got the info to participate...but WAH! I want a side bar...any advice?

    Melissa

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 8:05:00 AM, Blogger Welmoed said…

    For the "sidebarless": scroll down the page. For some odd reason, the sidebar stuff doesn't appear until you scroll all the way down to where the entries stop. Funny; it used to be at the top, next to the articles.
    --Welmoed

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 9:33:00 AM, Blogger arabellaesmerelda said…

    Kudos to Emily's class!

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 11:46:00 AM, Anonymous john said…

    if you click on refresh while looking at the thermometer it will redo itself-
    kinda fun-

    i usually do a heifer gift every month or so-
    i did my december gift thru here today-

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 2:15:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    love the idea of raising money for those in need with your site (which I read nearly every day)

    but...

    I don't want to help promote animal cruelty. I grew up on a small farm, but huge 'factory' farms were the norm where I grew up. That's one of the biggest reasons I went vegetarian, now vegan. Seeing first hand the ways animals are treated on most large farms, what they are fed, and how they are slaughtered, well, that only made it easier to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. The words of Daniel Hammer from Friends of Animals sum up my thoughts:

    "Working to end world hunger is commendable, but exploiting animal life to do it could actually worsen global famine trends."

    There are so many trades that could be taught instead, raising organic produce for one!

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 3:29:00 PM, Blogger patsijean said…

    Anonymous:
    It is great that you have the choice of being Vegan. Many, however, have to make due with what they have.

    That said, Heifer International allows you to help out without violating your principles. They also give gifts of trees appropriate for the locale; Goats for milk, cheese & butter(which is how many children get their protein and calcium and extra can be sold for income); Lamas and Alpacas for wool and transportation; and Water Buffalo for help planting rice and potatoes, milk, manure for fertilizer and dried for fuel. They would be a great gift from someone wanting to encourage produce farming.
    Sheep will provide years of wool shearing for clothes and sale, as well as food.
    The recipiants are not industrial farms. The donations go to impoverished families and villages of people who may very well share home space with some of the animals in winter. Please investigate before saying No.

    Erin, I am torn between goats, lamas, and water buffalo. I do not see your thermometer at all. Is the link working?

     

  • At Dec 3, 2006 6:07:00 PM, Blogger patsijean said…

    Oops, I forgot to add, one can also gift honey bees.
    Is the Thermometer link working yet?

     

  • At Dec 4, 2006 11:02:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I did do the research. ;)

    The idea of being vegan (for most) is to live completely free of animal products, patsjean. No dairy, eggs, wool, leather, honey, silk, etc... It may seem extreme, but consider that many sheep freeze to death after being sheared. Or the shearing itself -- not exactly friendly. Etc, yadda, yadda...And avoiding animal products is usually CHEAPER than using them (many ready-made vegan products are expensive, but who says you have to use them. People were vegan long before there meat free sausage links) Meat is usually the most expensive thing food-wise (well, I guess except for saffron or figs! haha) so I am actually 'making due with what I have' by avoiding it -- I am rather 'strapped for cash' and in fact it's the more economical choice to be plant-based for me. And Lord knows it saves me money on shoes and dresses!

    I just wanted to represent those who feel animal rights are important but who also think giving is important. 99% of vegans would have a problem donating money to an organization that has anything to do with donating animals or their products as food - even if they also donate trees. I love Dress a Day but I felt I needed to say something, even though I'm sure many will be like, 'Goshdarnit can the crazy veg, shut it so we can get back to the dresses!'. That's Ok, happens all the time!

     

  • At Dec 4, 2006 1:13:00 PM, Blogger Julie The Zaftig Goddess said…

    Nice plug.
    Heifer Project's world headquaters are right here in Little Rock.
    They have a spankin' new center and, if you like a drive,
    a great place in Perryville, AR with tons of learning experiances
    like the Global Village immersion experience for teens. If you
    are ever in the area it is a great day trip.

     

  • At Dec 4, 2006 2:24:00 PM, Blogger Erin said…

    Dear Vegan Anonymous -- thank you so much for leaving a comment to talk about your take! I really appreciate it.

    I do think that we all need to be aware of how we treat animals and to minimize practices that cause undue suffering.

    I have been trying to eat less meat lately (mostly for health reasons) myself ...

    I do think however that, especially in places where plant-based agriculture is precarious at best that animals are the best solution for now, and that's why I support Heifer International.

     

  • At Dec 4, 2006 5:07:00 PM, Anonymous Julia M. said…

    My Jewish friend Neil, who spends each Christmas with my mostly-Christian family, has been giving each of my family members large animals through Heifer on an installment basis. Last year my parents got 10% of a water buffalo, my brother 10% of a cow, and my husband and I 10% of a pair of llamas, I think. This lets him off the hook for figuring out Christmas presents for the next nine years, and we love it. Great link -- thanks!

     

  • At Dec 6, 2006 12:58:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Before you donate to Heifer, check out how much of their money goes to actual programs that benefit the poor. I think their administrative and advertising fees are TOO HIGH, compared with other organizations like Catholic Charities.

     

  • At Jan 21, 2008 12:50:00 AM, Blogger sioux said…

    I've been dying to find something like Heifer, but that fit with my animal-friendly and earth-friendly principles. While it's not as "fun" to shop as Heifer, Food For Life Global (ffl.org) looks like a good alternative for those who want to help without creating more unsustainable agriculture

    75% of Third World imports of corn, barley, sorghum and oats are fed to animals (John Robbins, May All be Fed, 1992). Most of the nations that now import grain were once self-sufficient in grain. Grain shortages are exacerbated by the IMF/World Bank's emphasis on export crops, rather than on the production of food crops for domestic use. Factor this in with the developing nations' steadily rising demand for meat and you have a recipe for environmental disaster.
    the above from http://www.greenleft.org.au/1995/210/10850


    Hope that helps you fellow vegetarians out there looking for an alternative.

    sioux

     

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