Heifer is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. Heifer does this by providing appropriate livestock, training and related services to small-scale farmers and communities worldwide.

A COW, NOT A CUP

Seventy-five years ago, Dan West began outlining a simple but groundbreaking plan to help the hungry. West, a Midwestern farmer and Church of the Brethren member, had recently returned from volunteer service in the Spanish Civil War where his job was to provide weary refugees with a single cup of milk. He knew American farmers had resources many others did not: cows and the steady supply of nutrition from their milk.

This “not a cup, but a cow” thought was the driving force behind West founding Heifer International. Now, 75 years later, the “teach a man to fish” philosophy still inspires our work to end world hunger and poverty once and for all and has transformed the lives of millions.