Heifer International & Bacon Is My Enemy

Several weeks ago I was sifting through my email and out of curiousity I decided to look in my "spam" mail box - I NEVER do this.

My eyes were drawn to a email with the subject line: "POVERTY IN AFRICA, please read!" At first I thought it was one of those money scams, but decided to read it anyway.

It turns out that the email was written by a middle schooler named Quinn. She and her classmates Kelsey & Hazel were doing a social action project focused on Heifer International. She was asking me to help she and her classmates spread the word about this organization.

Instead of deleting the email or responding with quick reply, my daughter Paige and I took it one step further. We decided to say "yes" to helping these three girls with their project and ended up taking a road trip to Bellingham, WA to see them in person.

This is what they had to say.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• ireport
• 061209

[scaredofmilk]

Heifer International was in Forbes top ten charity list.

[LunaVideo21]

1. What's wrong with administrative costs.... I prefer to pay salaries of people helping to end world hunger than many other salaries you're blindly helping support. I assume by your video that you're independently wealthy and work for free!

2. Is it better to be poor and have no animal, than to have a male, or female? Really? HAVE YOU EVER HAD NOTHING AND LIVED FAR FROM A PAVED ROAD?May a cow be given to a poor family for every stupid video you make, and the world will be a better place :)

[csquare02]

Heifer International is NOTa scam. According to the financial information, this organization devoted 76% of its total expenses to program services during the year 2011.

[seajist]

heifer international is a scam. most of your money goes to overhead administrative costs

[TheFutureCullen]

Heifer gives both male and female. Can't pass on the gift without offspring.

[QuietCannon]

@amyleona2 Females don't produce offspring without a male.

[amyleona2]

@QuietCannon Males don't produce milk.

[QuietCannon]

Heifer is so shady to me though. If you check out their catalog page, a Milk Menagerie package is 2 goats, one cow, and a water buffalo...a gift that keeps on giving...Why are they all female animals then? And there are lots of horror stories about Heifer leaving families in the dark when their livestock is wiped by disease. I really wanted to believe in it, but upon researching before spending, I just can't.

[cmulwee001]

I love the name Quinn for a girl.