History
"These children don't need a cup, they need a cow."
How Heifer Started
During the Spanish civil war, Heifer International founder Dan West served as a relief worker handing out cups of powdered milk from America to children on both sides of the conflict. When the supply ran out but the line of hungry children didn't, he reasoned, "If families had a dairy cow they could be spared the indignity of depending on others to feed their children."
In 1944, the first shipment of 18 heifers (young cows) was sent to Puerto Rico. In 1947, China received its first shipment of 550 dairy cows through the UN. Since then, Heifer International has provided food- and income-producing animals and training to more than 12 million resource-poor families in over 125 countries.
From then on Headquartered in the U.S., Heifer International has over 350 current projects in 48 countries in Asia and the South Pacific, Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, North America, and South America and the Caribbean.
Heifer has spent more 50 years alleviating hunger, poverty and environmental degradation by helping communities become self-reliant for food and income. Providing livestock and training to hungry families is Heifer International's unique approach that originated with one simple idea - "Not a cup, but a cow." Heifer has helped more than 12 million impoverished families in over 125 countries become self-reliant through the gift of livestock and training in their care.
Heifer provides more than 20 types of food- and income-producing animals, as well as intensive training in animal husbandry, ecologically-sound, sustainable farming and community development. Heifer works closely with local partners including community groups, government agencies, and other grassroots organizations.