NUMC Kicks Off Heifer International Fundraiser

By Kendra Bobowick

As guests reached for cream or waited to fill their coffee cups, United Methodist Church Outreach co-chair Margaret Pfeiffer squeezed through a line at the buffet table and looked at slices of pie and other donated baked goods on September 22. She glanced across the room filled with voices and the clatter of silverware during the day’s luncheon, a kick-off event sponsored by Newtown United Methodist Church Outreach Committee. “We pick a project each year,” she said.

This year, Heifer International will benefit from the fundraiser, which is scheduled to continue through the fall. The organization aims at providing food for undernourished families. According to its flier, “Heifer International has helped seven million families become more self-reliant through the gift of livestock and training in their care … Heifer provides food- and income-producing animals, as well as intensive training in animal husbandry, environmentally sound, sustainable farming and community development.”

Looking across the room and catching another woman’s eye Ms Pfeiffer greeted her co-chair, Margaret Cassidy, as she explained that Saturday’s luncheon was the start of a long-term effort.

“We’ll be raising money until Thanksgiving,” she said. Residents can make contributions to Heifer International through the church. The public can also help with the fundraising if they wish to do so. Checks can be made to Heifer International and mailed to Newtown United Methodist Church, 92 Church Hill Road, Sandy Hook CT 06482.

Adding a twist of levity to the fundraising afternoon, tables were dressed to resemble months of the year. Hinting at each table’s theme were the red, white, and blue decorative bursts of plastic stars arranged in a vase, or the curved handles of umbrellas jutting from a spray of roses, for example. Other tables were splashed with autumn leaves or Christmas’s fictional faces.

Heifer International was started in 1944. One flier states, “Hungry children were the reason Indiana farmer Dan West founded Heifer International … animals provide life-saving nutrition and add protein to inadequate diets. Money earned from selling animal products such as cheese, eggs, and woven goods helps families afford school for their children as well as medicine and housing improvements that better the children’s health.”

Learn more about the organization at heifer.org.