Read to Feed program from Heifer International

Reading is the ultimate way to introduce children to a world of possibilities. Even before they enter school, children should be exposed to as many types of print as parents can find. Magazines, picture books, chapter books, maps, newspapers, comic books, posters, menus, games – there are so many ways to incorporate reading into our everyday lives, many people don’t even realize it! Building a passion for reading is an essential step to ensure academic success.

Heifer International, a charity that focuses on world hunger and poverty, has created a way for teachers to work with their classes to combine a reading incentive program with a way to help other children around the world. In a time when it’s sometimes hard to connect with cultures that are so very different from our fast-food lifestyles, Heifer International’s Read to Feed® program helps children set goals, read to make a positive impact on our world, and motivate even our most reluctant readers with the knowledge that with just a few pages, they can help a family become stronger and more able to support themselves.

The Read to Feed® program encourages children to work individually, or as groups to get sponsors for books they read during a set amount of time. Once the challenge period is over, the sponsored funds are grouped together and are used to donate an animal (they even get to pick what kind of animal!) to a needy family through Heifer International.

When students realized that they have the power to help provide an animal to a family who will use it for eggs, or milk, or wool, they are having a direct global impact. Families who receive animals through Heifer International help to increase their family worth by selling their animal products, to pay for school, medicine and other expenses that they wouldn’t normally be able to afford.

This program can be utilized by single classrooms, grade levels and even whole schools! Being a classroom teacher, I can say with confidence, that when children are given challenges, they rise to whatever is presented to them. Knowing that they could be part of a solution to help stop global hunger, I believe will generate great enthusiasm among students. Reading is something that every child truly needs to do, and if it can be tied in with a fantastic program dedicated to ending hunger and poverty, it gives me great hope. This program will give our students the chance to help other children in over 40 countries, including the US to become more self-sufficient. Compassion is the ultimate lesson that we should teach our children, and with the Read to Feed® program, we are sending them down a fantastic path.

To learn more or to order the Read to Feed kit, email volunteer@heifer.org or call 877-275-READ (7323). The Read to Feed materials can also be downloaded at www.readtofeed.org.

About Heifer International:

Heifer’s mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. Since1944, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in 40 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities become more self-reliant. For more information, visit www.heifer.org or call 1-800-696-1918.

*We did not receive monetary compensation or product for this review. We wanted to share this program with our readers. Your results and opinions may differ.