GIRARD, Ill. — Heifer International (HI) is a charitable operation that uses agricultural sustainability to help end world poverty and hunger. It began with a herd of 17 young cows sent to Puerto Rico in 1944 and today, according to its records, it has built a better future for 20.7 million families.

Barb Oakes  of Girard is an area volunteer coordinator for HI and has been part of this group since 2002. She has traveled to Poland, the Republic of Czech, the Philippine Islands, Honduras and Armenia, as well as all over the United States on several study tours where she had chances to see how the projects work firsthand.

Tours have been on hold since 2011, but the ones she attended were a rewarding experience that has changed Oakes’ life and the lives of those with whom she has worked.

She joined as a volunteer after learning about HI’s concept of “passing on the gift.” Families are provided with livestock that will serve as a way for them to make a living. They then share the training they receive and pass on the first female offspring of their livestock – whether it is a cow, water buffalo, chicken or other animal – to another family.

The website explains “this extends the impact of the original gift, allowing a once-impoverished family to become donors and full participants in improving their communities.”

In 2002, Oakes retired from her job as a social worker for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. “I had served people all my life and knew that people don’t want handouts, they need a hand up. I could see how this could work,” she said.

HI began with the founder, Dan West, who lived near Goshen, Ind. An educator and member of the Church of the Brethren, who were conscientious objectors, West served as a relief worker in Spain during its Civil War. “Dan was originally sent in 1937 to Spain and returned in 1939,” Oakes explained.

Offering powdered milk to hungry men, women and children, often at the end of the day, he saw there was not enough for everyone. “This bothered Dan, seeing parents so downhearted because they couldn’t take care of their family,” she added.

As a parent, West saw a better way. He is quoted as saying, “What these children need is a cow, not a cup.”

When he returned home he presented the idea to his neighbors and church of taking real cows to those in need. This led to the formation of the Heifers for Relief Committee in 1939.  The charity became incorporated in 1944, along with that first shipment of 17 heifers to Puerto Rico.

Shipments were sent to Europe and Greece and other places after the war. Historian Peggy Reif Miller gathered information about the men and ships that delivered the livestock to war-torn countries after the close of World War II. She states: “The Brethren Service Committee had a dilemma: the Heifer Project had over 1,000 heifers ready to ship, but no ships. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation (UNRRA), created by 44 nations in November 1943 to provide postwar relief, also had a dilemma. They had ships, but no cattle tenders for the 200,000 head of livestock they planned to ship to devastated countries.

“UNRRA knew about the Brethren shipment to Puerto Rico and the interest of the Brethren in sending heifers to Europe, and a partnership was born. The Brethren Service Committee would recruit the livestock attendants for UNRRA’s shipments, and UNRRA would ship the Brethren heifers free of charge.”

The men who worked with the livestock were dubbed Seagoing Cowboys and between June  24, 1945 and mid-1947, more than 7,000 men and boys from all across the United States and Canada volunteered to serve. The stories of these men served as fodder for a book – log onto www.seagoingcowboys.com for more information.

Since the 1980s animals have been picked from the countries where the program is under way rather than shipped from the United States. “We have been in the countries long enough that they can get the animals there,” Oakes said. “I was in Poland in 2005 and we bought animals from a farmer that we helped years ago. We can trace animals back to the first shipment.”

In Perryville, Ark., the Heifer Ranch is where the animals were kept before sending out a shipment. Today the ranch is an educational place where groups can learn about world hunger and sustainability.  “This project really shows what one person can do,” Oakes said. HI has been in 124 countries, and today it is active in 30.

Over the last 12 years, Oakes tried to purchase every animal in the Heifer catalog as her Christmas gift donation. Instead of a Christmas tree she has an “Ark” and places a representation of the animal she purchased in it and puts it out at Christmas time. She has chosen this in lieu of buying presents.

Oakes provides presentations and works with projects all over the country. She has received several awards and is available to speak to local groups and present information tables for educational events, church conventions and to assist groups with fundraising projects for HI. She can be contacted at barb470218@gmail.com or 217-341-8448.