COMMUNITY BABY ANIMAL FAIR
A HUGE SUCCESS!
The Wright County Community, just west of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, made a significant statement to the world as we celebrated our fourth biennial fundraiser for Heifer International on Sunday, April 22nd at the local Civic Center. We demonstrated that This American Community Cares About the World and We Want to Share Our Blessings by Giving Hope, in the form of farm animals and training in their care, to Communities Around the World.
Over 3000 people were in attendance for the Baby Animal Fair. Young and old all came. Admission was a gift of food for our local food shelf, 3,000 pounds of food were donated, enough to fill the local pantry! The community united, as Churches, Schools, Businesses, Organizations and Individuals, came together and donated $13,000.00 for Heifer animals. This sum will be doubled through a Heifer matching grant program!
The Fair is a time for community fun, learning and family giving. Organized around a huge world map, fair goers find 5 continents full of live baby animals, ethnic foods, local entertainment, and information booths where local young people share stories of Heifer International and how the gift of an animal can change the lives of families in need of hope throughout the world. Fair goers are instructed on zero grazing strategies, told about pastured poultry, and learn the value of “black gold” (animal manure) in renewing the earth.
The local 4H provided most of the baby animals, along with face painting, and free helium balloons for the children.
The fair focused on Heifer’s goal of healing the earth through the Ecology Booth where people could test their knowledge of our planet’s ecosystem. At the Global Dinner Table families talked about world hunger and learned about the world’s demographics at the Global Village Booth. A Geography Booth gave families an opportunity to quiz each other on their knowledge of world geography.
One of the high points of this year’s fair was the “Story Ark” built by our local alternative high school, Phoenix Learning Center. The youth there organized, financed, and built a beautiful ark, for the storybook reading center, where the littlest fair goers hang out with stuffed animals from around the world and listen to wonderful animal stories read by the Phoenix youth.
Our local Catholic School, St Francis Xavier, learned about Heifer during Lent and filled ark banks with $830 to buy animals to help hungry children
Local Churches shared Heifer Stories with their congregations and contributed over $1,000 to our goal.
Many businesses and local philanthropic organizations played a part. Youth groups from churches, the high school drama department, a local karate school, and the Boy Scouts all had a hand in the success of the day.
Through the volunteer efforts of hundreds of local people, our community united for an afternoon of good family fun and learning. It felt good to share our blessings and to know that they will multiply as the gift is passed on, family to family.
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