Give a Water Buffalo for Christmas

I know a lot of great opportunities for selfless giving pop up around the holidays, but I wanted to let all the Tales readers in on another such deserving opportunity.

Join with your fellow Mormon bloggers (from now on known as "Team Bloggernacle") in a holiday fundraising drive for one of my favorite charities, Heifer International. If you haven't crossed paths with Heifer Int. before, here is info straight from Janet's FMH write-up:

Rated by Forbes as one of the world’s top 10 charities, Heifer International allows charitable folks to buy shares in animals which are then allocated to families and communities in need. In addition to the pig, goat, sheep or whatnot, recipients also receive training on how to use their gifts to establish family and community self-sustenance. Basically, HI fulfills both sides of the old “give a guy a fish” proverb by providing immediate food and a means of obtaining more. Inasmuch as my baby has refused to sleep for two days and I cannot write my way out of a paper sack, I pilfer the following from ever-trusty Wikipedia:

Animals such as goats, water buffalo and camels are “seven M” animals: they provide meat, milk, muscle, manure, money, materials and motivation. Once its immediate needs have been met, a family is free to sell any excess at market. Heifer International provides a breeding animal along with the gift animal so that it can produce offspring. Participating families are required to “pass on the gift”, that is: they must give at least one of the female offspring to a neighbor who has undergone Heifer’s training. In time, that neighbor will pass along one of the offspring of its animal, and so on.

So if you are feeling a little like this (helpless in a world with so many problems), do something like this (make a donation in honor of a friend or family member), and help Team Bloggernacle purchase a "Milk Menagerie" or even a "Gift Ark" for some of God's children who are "less monetarily blessed" this Christmas season. It is truly a gift that keeps on giving.


Here's how:
1. Click on the Team Bloggernacle link.
2. Click on the "General Team Donation" link.
3. Choose from one of the "animal gift" options or enter another monetary donation amount (as little as $10).