By Sammi SLAYBACK

Rosemont students could be seen racing all over campus on Thursday in competition for a number of possible prizes. In order to qualify for the festivities, students had to individually raise money for Heifer International, a non-profit organization that focuses on ending hunger and poverty throughout the world.

The Heifer projects give farm animals to poor families around the globe, offering recipients a chance at a better life. By giving an animal rather than a check, Heifer provides the family with an opportunity to support themselves rather than the organization acting as a temporary crutch. This idea, one of Heifer’s mottos, was crafted from the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

In order to vivify its other slogan, “The gift that keeps on giving,” Heifer requires that the animals’ first offspring be given to the next poor family in the village.

Teacher and coordinator of the event, Lorena Leininger traveled to Honduras last June to get an up-close-and-personal look at one of Heifer’s animal-giving ceremonies.

“What I love about Heifer is they don’t just throw money at the problem,” explained Leininger.

To give Rosemont students some insight into which animals Heifer donates to certain countries, Leininger set up a relay race on the campus. Students formed teams and ran from location to location, needing to complete specific tasks at each stop before moving on. Every stop was given the name of a particular country aided by the Heifer projects and each partnering activity was related to the animals given to that region.

Approximately 400 students participated in the fundraiser to help the Heifer projects in hopes of winning the relay race and any of the many prizes. Prizes included Disneyland tickets, “Principal for a Day” passes, Rocky Cola gift certificates, and many more rewards donated by Rosemont parents and La Crescenta and Montrose shops.

Prizes weren’t the only incentive, however. When asked why she participated in the fundraiser and race, seventh grader Sabrina White confided, “I used to have a friend who had family in the less fortunate countries; they had trouble affording food and Heifer helped them.” She added that she convinced her family to start recycling in order to help Heifer’s efforts to care for the Earth.

After all was said and done, the students managed to raise a total of over $20,000, a considerably higher amount than in previous years.

“I’m really excited,” said Leininger. “It took us eight years to earn $30,000, so the fact that we earned almost that much in one year is pretty amazing.”

More information on Heifer International and how to get involved can be found at www.heifer.org.

The organizers extend their thanks to the following organizations that helped with the event:

Thank you to our local sponsors for joining our mission to raise money and awareness for the Heifer Project: to end world hunger and poverty   We appreciate your A M A Z I N G   S U P P O R T and encourage the community to visit you!
My Mobile AT&T, La Cañada
Bella Boutique
Billy’s Boardshop
CV Weekly Newspaper
Five Star Limousine
Froyolife
Joselito’s
In & Out, La Crescenta
Montrose Travel
North Shore Burgers
Ocean View Board Sports
Olive Garden, Burbank
Once Upon a Time Bookstore
Paper Rabbit
Rocky Cola Café
The Clothing Market

  Leonard Coutin, Sammi SLAYBACK