And you too can participate with your own pledge!
You may have already heard of Heifer International, an organization that works to fight hunger by giving needy families around the world and in the United States livestock, training, or other assistance that helps improve their livelihood. Heifer has been recognized for its work in Fast Company and Forbes, among other places.
I know these are some difficult economic times for many people, but if you have anything to spare this holiday season I hope you'll consider making a donation.
And in order to encourage people to spread the word about this worthy cause, there are two ways to help increase the giving love (and feel free to do both):
- For every comment someone makes in this post between now and 6PM Pacific time on Friday, I will donate $2.00.
- For every tweet that includes a) the hashtag #NBHeifer and b) a link back to this post (http://bit.ly/thH5O1) I will donate another $2.00. (up to $2,000 between the two)
In your comment I hope you'll list:
1. Your name
2. Where you're from
3. A wish for 2011
4. (optional) Your own per-comment pledge (amounts totally up to you). Write a dedicated post on your blog for people to leave comments on your blog and link to Heifer and state your pledge. Then enter it into the linky list below so everyone can stop by and leave a comment.
Thanks, everyone, for helping make the world a better place!
UPDATE: Upping bid to $2.00!
![]("http://www.writersdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/writers-digest-2013-101-best-sites.jpg)
72 comments:
This is a great organization! My brother raises Black Angus and bulls & my sister gives donations to Heifer International each year as part of his Christmas gift. Love this! Am tweeting it too!
Yay for Heifer International!
I'm LG Smith from Colorado. My wish is that anyone who wants a job can find one in the new year.
And my family already gives to Heifer every year. Great organization.
OxFam has a similar program and I have "bought" goats and sheep from both.
Kate Jenkins from Centennial, CO. My wish is that we can recognize healthy food for all is a civil right. Happy holidays and a bright new year!
Susan H
Indiana
I am very familiar with Heifer Intl, using it as a Christmas mission project at a nearby school. My wish is that fellow blog followers will realize that a small donation amount makes a huge difference to the recipients. Please do donate something this year to someone at Heifer Intl.
Great idea, Nathan! Happy Holidays!
Melanie from San Diego. Hmm…a wish…I'm not really sure! I guess I wish that we will all grow and prosper in ways that are truly beneficial to our larger communities. Thanks for supporting Heifer!
I wish everybody the best of health and happiness in the new year!
Rick Daley from Lewis Center, OH (a suburb of Columbus).
My wish for 2011 is for those who hold public office to stop playing politics and get to work for the good of the country.
Now off to Twitter I go...
This is such a great organization! So glad to see you doing this again Nathan. I'll be tweeting too!
Alison
Iowa City, IA
I wish for loads and loads of inspiration for me (and anyone else who wants some)!
Love this. Heifer is one of my favorite charities...it's just such a direct and useful way to help people.
Wonderful! I love Heifer International. I'm Norah from Ithaca, NY. I'm wishing for the continued health and happiness of those close (and not so close, too!) to me.
Thanks for doing this Fundraiser, I think it is awesome!
This is such a great cause!
I'm from Canada.
Happy Holidays! And may we all find what truly makes us happy.
Matt Tyler Zbrog
Venice, CA
Forgiveness
Crystal from Virginia! And I wish for a renewed economy and a year full of positive thinking :)
We donate to a lot of different places year-round, but I'll definitely check this one out and see what they're about.
Thanks for doing this again, Nathan. You are the one who introduced me to this great organization last year, and I'd love to join you again in doing a pledge on my own blog. (I'll be back after I've posted to share the link.)
Gretchen
Truckee, CA
My wish is for health
Yea! I am glad you are doing this again. I am from Clyde NY, a writer, teacher and pagan celebrating Solstice today. Link to my blogs or my face book page where I am offering to match each post with $2 up to $500.
http://writinggoodstuff.blogspot.com/
(Writing in the NY Lake District) or http://dorothyas.blogspot.com/ (Anemone's Assays in Pagan Living)
and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dorothy-L-Abrams-Writers-Page/184765988280689
And have a blessed holiday where ever you are and what ever you celebrate. (give me a few minutes to get the posts up.)
This is one of my favorite organizations! Every year my sister and I donate in our parents name. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.
My wife and I have a recurring donation to Heifer. They are a great organization. Plus, it's fun to buy a goat for someone. Much better than scented candles.
I'm Janet from North Dakota.
My wish for this next year is that we can finally understand that we are all human, with the same set of dreams and needs, and that we treat each other the same way.
Heifer is a great project--thanks for doing this!
Jenn from Philadelphia.
I wish for world peace and happiness in 2012.
And also laughter. I think we could all use more of that.
I'll donate to Heifer also--I just need to figure out whether it will be a comment challenge or a straight donation.
Happy holidays!
Nora Coon from Portland, Oregon. My wish for 2012 would be a general trend back towards sanity and away from partisanship in this country...perhaps a wish better saved for 2013.
Thanks for doing this!
Val Roberts from Boise, Idaho. Just "bought" a llama at Heifer.org yesterday as a Christmas present.
My 2012 wish is for everyone on Earth to step back, take a deep breath, and be nicer to each other. And everything everyone else has wished for, as well.
1. Bryan Russell
2. Windsor, Ontario (Canada)
3. My wish: good health and happiness to whomever might read this far down the list
4. I have already donated to Heifer! One of my favourite charities. I donate through the blog of Patrick Rothfuss, as they have a nice matching scheme. More bang for my charitable buck.
Great blog post. I'm Lou Belcher and I participated in an Art Exhibit that supported this organization or one similar to it ... Very wonderful thing you are doing.
I was waiting for the fundraiser to begin this year! I'm Anna from Texas, and my wish for the new year is that we will learn to respect each other in spite of our differences, and that we can work together for positive change.
This is such a great organization!
I'm Jessica from CA and my wish for 2012 is to finally get my life together. ;-)
Great organization! I just want to mention Lifewater, too--if you want to give food AND water this year--and as with Heifer International you can donate a "gift" in honor of someone you love. My parents don't know it yet, but they are getting a latrine for Christmas! :->
My name is Heather, I'm from St. Paul MN, and my wish for this year is that my kids and I love outward.
My name is Wendy and I'm from the great land of Aus. My wish for 2012 is for everyone to find their way Home to life, love and their full potential.
Merry Christmas to you, Nathan, your beautiful wife and all your readers.
Yay! It's wonderful of you to do this every year, Nathan. I think Heifer is a terrific organization!
I haven't started my blog yet, but it's set up, so I think I'll open it just for this and then close it again until I'm ready. Obviously, I don't have followers or anything, so it's more just in support.
So, questions - I'm Mira from the San Francisco Bay Area. My wish for 2012 is for worldwide clarity and balance.
p.s. Jennifer, if you see this, I tried to comment on your blog, but it wouldn't let me.
I'm not sure I can afford a direct donation, but I could probably manage $0.50 a comment if I blog about it. We've got til Friday?
I'll definitely Tweet.
I've been giving to Heifer for awhile now. I'll go ahead and choose one of their "gifts" for this Christmas, too.
I'm Lisa. Most days I'm from Utah, but some days (like this, the last day of school before break), I'm slightly to the left of insane.
What a great cause! :)
I'm Cat from Montreal and my wish for 2012 is health, hope and happiness for all. (And world peace.)
Happy holidays!! All the best to you and yours!
Heifer is one of my favorite charities! Good choice!
My wish is for people to be just a little more decent to one another. They don't even have to be kind, just recognize one another as human beings and not things or a faceless mass to be taken advantage of or fought against.
I'm spending Nathan's money!!!
What an excellent cause!
I'm Jen McConnel from North Carolina. My wish is that everyone finds their own form of bliss in 2012.
I'm Tricia from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
My wishes include a better economy and help with the housing market, but my own personal selfish wish? I really want an xBox. (HEY SANTA! Did you get my letter?!)
Thanks for doing this again, Nathan. Happy Holidays!
Instead of giving gifts to my loved ones this year (and adding to their collective unwanted clutter pile) I made a big (for me) donation to Heifer International in their honor.
My wish for the coming year is for organic/non-GMO food to be accessible and affordable for everyone, not a luxury for just a few. Oh - and world peace, of course. Okay that's two wishes, but I've always been better with words than numbers. :D
Happy Holidays!!
Jen Calafiore-Daniele
That's great of you, Nathan! Looks like a very worthy organisation. I've also tweeted this.
And I'm Wendy from Australia. :)
This is a great organisation with an impressive aim. I hope they continue to make a difference for individuals, families and communities.I support Oxfam - their animal and education presents are also designed to raise children out of poverty.
Good choice, Nathan!
I'm Val from Minneapolis, MN.
I'm wishing the political and corporate movers and shakers would move away from politicking and shake some sense into themselves and each other to FIX the country, the economy, and the American political theater.
Very generous of you Nathan! This is a great cause.
Deniz from Montreal.
Hope everyone has a fabulous writing and reading year in 2012!
Come on, folks. Let's make Nathan pay! :) Actually, I think this is a wonderful idea. thank you for bringing Heifer International to my attention.
I'm Karen - originally from a cattle ranch in Jackson Hole. My wish is that next year my book will be doing well enough that I can match your donations, Nathan.
I'll tweet this, too.
Love this fundraiser, Nathan! I donated to Heifer as part of my Christmas gift to extended family this year - they all loved it and were honored to have the donation made in their names. Heifer is a great organization!
Love this! Go Heifer Int'l!
Will you believe my name actually is Limecello? ;) I'm stateside - and... well a wish I *had* for 2011 was to get a job - I'll just carry that over to 2012.
This is a fantastic organization - thank you for giving to Heifer International and raising awareness about it!
Great idea, Nathan- I love Heifer. Will retweet as well.
Lovely idea:)
Thanks for doing this! Heifer International is great.
I'm Nic from Virginia, and my wish is for the world to gain in peace, acceptance, and happiness in 2012 and every year.
No blog or Twitter account to help out, but saw your post just after opening a letter from Heifer International. We're duck people, so another lucky family will be hearing quacks soon.
Wishing many more people to benefit from individual and community programs like this. Thanks for such an innovative way of spreading the word.
I love Heifer. I'm Angelia Almos from California and my wish is for those who need help are able to find it.
Cindy from Southern California. My wish is for more kindness and compassion at every level of society.
I love Heifer International!
Lynne Kelly
Spring, TX (Houston-ish)
I hope it doesn't sound cliche to say that my wish is for peace on Earth, but seriously, I wish people would quit fighting and killing each other because they have differing beliefs.
Doing a $2/comment on my own blog too! Link is on the list above.
Stephanie from California, and I think it's great you're doing this again, Nathan!
My wish is that every U.S. politician would watch the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and as a result become more like Mr. Smith!
Linking this to my blog! I love giving "memorial" gifts on behalf of my brother, granny, and now my father. A great organization.
Good holidays to you and yours, Nathan
Great way to change peoples' lives!
Candice in Texas, and I'm hoping 2012 is the year everyone does one big thing they've always wanted to do. Life is too short to put things off indefinitely.
February Grace
from Michigan
Merry Christmas, Great Jedi Master!
I hope that 2012 brings you only wonderful surprises, the peace that comes from following your heart (which is obviously a very big heart!) and the blessing of friends and family all around you.
Peace!
~bru
Robena from the California desert. Love the Heifer organization. Love what you are doing here, Nathan.
My wish for 2012 is that we all find some place of comfort within ourselves and live by the motto of more wag, less bark.
Oh, and thusly tweeted too!
~bru
Brief aside: Wow, Nathan. One more person and you're at 6000 followers. That's incredible!!!
Congratulations! :)
What a wonderful idea!
I'm Laura from beautiful British Columbia and my wish for 2012 is a cure for cancer.
I'm also doing a per-comment pledge on my own blog where I will donate $1 per comment to Heifer International. (See the link list at the bottom of Nathan's post.)
Meghan Ward
Berkeley, CA
I wish that everyone I know will donate this year to some great cause, whether it's Heifer International or their local homeless shelter, so those in need can also have happy holidays.
Thank you, Nathan, from Downeast Maine. It's great that you're rallying us writers for such a good cause. Happy holidays everyone!
Steven Roiphe
Debra from Los Angeles. I get the Heifer catalog every holiday season. Wonderful organization. Wish for all to have what the need most this year.
Sarah from Portland Oregon! My wish is for world peace. :-)
Fiona Paul from St. Louis.
A generous friend once donated a heifer in my name and I've been hooked on Heifer Int'l ever since.
Man, a lot of my dreams came true in 2010 and 2011 so for 2012 I am wishing happiness and success to my fellow Apocalypsies and to everyone reading this, especially other writers. (Not wannabe writers, not aspiring writers, not amateur writers, WRITERS, because that's what you are. Now own it :) )
How did I miss this post?
I'm Kayeleen from Southern Utah. My wish for 2011 is to be a great mom and have time for all the other things to do, as well.
Right on! This is a great organization. Thanks so much for doing this!
Give a person a fish and he eats for the day. Teach him how to fish and he has food for a lifetime. I wholly support the work Heifer Project does.
Very creative idea to spread the word and get people involved in giving. I live in Jerusalem, Palestine and I wish for peace and justice in Gaza.
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