A Goat for the Holidays

Evelyn got a goat for Hanukkah…

It’s true! Sort of…

The holidays are a time of year where things can get a little gluttonous. Now don’t get me wrong, I love this time of year. The food, the family, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I love gifts. But I did want to start teaching Evelyn from a young age that not everyone can be so fortunate as us, and that this season is about giving as well. So we decided that one night of Hanukkah would be ‘The Giving Night.’

When Nate and I first started talking about it, we kept referring to it when she was older. We would take her to a toy store where she would pick out toys for families that may be on hard times that year.

She may be too young this year to understand that concept, but I still wanted to start the tradition of ‘The Giving Night’ for her first Hanukkah. I had heard about a charity that gives livestock to families in countries that could benefit. A kind of, if you give a man a fish, he’d eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he’d eat for a lifetime.

Heifer International is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based holistic community development. With tons of options, there’s a lot of ways that you can choose to donate. We decided to donate a goat to a family in honor of Evelyn’s Giving Night.

According to the website:

On small farms, goats are often the key to a family’s survival. Give a goat to a family in need. Along with training and education in its care, each goat gift donation:

– Provides milk, cheese and butter for nourishment

– Boosts income through sales of extra milk

– Encourages better crop yields by creating fertilizer and clearing land

Goats are known for providing delicious milk, which can be used to create cheese that can be sold for income, in turn providing a family’s children the opportunity to go to school. Goat milk is more easily digestible, and one animal can produce up to four gallons a day.

Goats are ideal for zero grazing, which means very little land is needed to raise them. Their natural curiosity and intelligence also makes them great pets for families with children.

We haven’t decided if we’re going to go back to our original idea of the toys, or maybe donate more animals, but I can’t wait to keep this tradition alive year after year.