LHI Looks Back on 2023

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

LHI’s COO Walker, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Jaron, and Founder and Director Hayley distributed aid to survivors of the earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria in February.

Looking back over the past year, we cannot believe all you have helped us to do! Here are the highlights!

The LHI Community Center in Serres, Greece

LHI’s Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Jaron and founder of our Utah programs Carlissa lent some elbow grease to improvement projects at the LHI Community Center in Serres.

It was a year of continued growth and innovation at the LHI Community Center, which is located near two refugee camps in Serres, Greece. The LHI Greece team was thrilled to receive new computers for the education program and new shelving for the community center’s aid warehouse. After talking with the women who attend programs at the Female Friendly Space, the team also adjusted the way we distribute clothing, school supplies, baby items and other aid. Instead of handing out parcels, the team instead created “free shops” where beneficiaries can select their own items. This small change not only provides people with a sense of dignity, but also brings a lot of excitement and joy.

The LHI Greece team set up a free shop where parents could shop for baby items including these handmade teddy bears.

utah programs

LHI team members and volunteers loaded this container of aid for Jordan in October.

Our Utah team prepared and shipped 18 containers of material aid to places like Bangladesh, where thousands of Rohingya refugees living in a large refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar were impacted by a fire in March, Afghanistan, where 6.6 million people have been internally displaced by conflict and natural disasters, and Gaza, where over 80% of the population has been displaced. The team also sent 7 shipments to the US/Mexico border to help shelters there provide warm clothing, hygiene products, and baby kits to migrants.

The US Office for Refugee Resettlement provides local resettlement agencies with a list of items that must be in apartments of resettled refugees. If the items aren't donated, they must be purchased from the family's small stipend. LHI's Utah team relies on donations from you to keep our warehouse stocked so that we can provide all the items resettled refugees need!

The Welcome Program has grown so much that we had to expand our warehouse! So far this year, LHI volunteers have set up 285 apartments for refugees resettling in Utah. And, in addition to our long-standing partnerships with the International Rescue Committee and Catholic Community Services, LHI is now working with Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection to make sure that resettled refugees in Logan, Utah come home to an apartment furnished with everything they need.

ukraine

The battery powered incubators you helped us provide put to good use at Bashtanka Hospital in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

Last year, we asked you to help us get Ukrainians through a cold and uncertain winter and you responded! We were able to provide generators, battery powered infant incubators, sleeping bags and long underwear throughout Ukraine. Our teams in Ukraine have also been able to get consistent material, medical and psychological aid to frontline communities all year long.

LHI's Ukraine country director Serhii (center) organized LHI's response to the dam collapse, including finding this truck which pumped thousands of tons of water out of homes and businesses.

When the Kakhovka Dam in Kherson province ruptured in June, our teams responded not only by helping those displaced from their homes, but also by pumping thousands of tons of water out of homes and businesses. 

Moldova

Participants in the Story Time Project performed some of the Ukranian folk tales they had read for family and friends!

Looking back on all the work our Moldova team has done with Ukrainian refugees, it is hard to believe that our community center in Balti and our Storytime Project are not even a year old! Both programs provide social emotional support activities for participants and keep Ukrainian language and culture alive.

Children at the LHI Community Center in Balti participate in a yoga class, part of the social emotional supports offered to Ukrainian refugees.

jordan

LHI Founder and Director Hayley Smith toured one of the modular classrooms LHI was able to build for Syrian refugee children in Jordan.

In Jordan, it’s all about kids and kids! The first set of kids are the Syrian refugee children who have benefitted from the 3 modular classrooms we built this year. Because Jordanian schools are already at capacity, building classrooms means that Syrian children can attend school. 

This family turned the 2 milk goats they received from LHI into a herd of 25 in just 2 years!

The second set of kids are the 1,200 Shami milk goats we have distributed to Syrian refugee families. The families who benefited had been goat herders in Syria, but had to leave their herds behind when they fled civil war. Having milk goats allows these families to improve their family’s nutrition and move towards self-sufficiency as they sell milk and grow their herd. One family we visited this year had turned the two milk goats they received two years ago into 25! The income they earned from goat milk and goat products allowed them to leave the refugee camp and rent a home. 

emergency response

LHI's COO Walker distributed aid to an earthquake survivor in Turkey.

LHI specializes in responding to emergency situations quickly, talking to the people impacted, and finding out what they most need. In February, we were able to assist both Turkish and Syrian people impacted by earthquakes by providing medical and psychological first aid, hygiene kits, and food packages. 

LHI responded to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza quickly, finding partners on the ground to help us source aid and get it to civilians who need it in Gaza.

In October, we arrived in Egypt and got right to work finding the right partners to help us get aid to the over one million people displaced in the Gaza Strip. We established a partnership with the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) who helped us get food and medicine into Gaza.

We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You!

Whether you are an LHI volunteer or a donor, whether you’ve tied blankets or assembled hygiene kits for a service project, or whether you are a partner or a grant provider, you are a part of our team. Thank you for your support this year. We look forward to working together again in 2024 to meet needs around the world. Simply humanitarian.

Travel Journal: LHI’s Carlissa Traveled To Jordan and Saw Just How Impactful 2 Goats Can Be

by Carlissa Larsen, LHI Utah Program Consultant

Carlissa visited a family that had received 2 milk goats a few years ago. Those 2 goats have produced this herd! The large black and white goat on Carlissa’s left is a stud goat that plays a big role in making more goats!

Guest contributor: Carlissa Larsen has been with LHI for 7 years. She started as a volunteer and founded the Utah programs. She worked as co-director for Utah operations, and is now a consultant for our Utah programs. She recently traveled to Jordan and Greece to see the impact of LHI’s work on the ground for the first time!

Living Conditions for Syrian Refugees in Jordan

80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in unofficial refugee camps, often called makeshift or improvised refugee camps like the one pictured below.

 A family was gracious enough to allow taking a photo of their kitchen (below), so that we could share with the world what conditions they live in. Behind the tarp in the back by the white bucket is where the family shower.

The makeshift structure with a dirt floor pictured below is the family's bathroom. For years, I've helped our volunteers who donate hygiene supplies for refugees to our Humanitarian Aid Warehouse. I was humbled to see where those supplies would actually be used for the families receiving them.

Lives in Syria Before

We visited a Syrian refugee family who had fled Aleppo at the beginning of the war in 2011. They lost their herd of goats and their livelihood, but escaped with their lives. They consider themselves lucky because most of their family and friends didn't make it out before they were killed. We sat in their humble home in Jordan hearing their story. Their young daughter, who was born in a refugee camp, wanted to give us something before we left, so she ran to the garden and picked fresh flowers for us.

Goats Change Lives

While in Jordan, I met multiple families that had gone from living in a tent in a refugee camp to living in a house within 2 years of LHI providing them with 2 goats. Prior to receiving goats from us these families had lived in a refugee camp for 10-12 years. Most of their children had been born in the refugee camps. Now, they have goats that provide nutrition, a way to make an income, a sense of dignity, and a new home!

This family received 2 goats from LHI 2 years ago. They've now grown their herd to 25 and have been able to rent a house with running water and electricity.

Thank you Carlissa for sharing your visit to Jordan with us! It is amazing to see how much just two milk goats can transform the lives of Syrian families living in Jordan.

Please help LHI continue to change lives. You can make a donation to our Gather for Goats program here, or, if you want to get your children or school or youth group involved, check out our Kids Club program!

Travel Journal: LHI’s Carlissa Traveled To Jordan and Saw Just How Impactful 2 Goats Can Be

by Carlissa Larsen, LHI Utah Program Consultant

Carlissa Larsen with a boy whose family received milk goats through LHI’s Gather for Goats program.

Carlissa Larsen has been with LHI for 7 years. She started as a volunteer, worked as co-director for Utah operations, and is now a consultant for our Utah programs. She recently traveled to Jordan and Greece to see the impact of LHI’s work on the ground for the first time!

Living Conditions for Syrian Refugees in Jordan

We visited this refugee camp in Jordan. 80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan live in unofficial refugee camps, often called makeshift or improvised refugee camps like the one pictured above.  

One family living in the camp was gracious enough to allow us to take a photo of their kitchen so that we could share with the world what kind of conditions they live in. Behind the tarp in the back by the white bucket is where the family shower.

This is the bathroom. Makeshift bathrooms like this, combined with the fact that Syrian refugees living in unofficial and remote camps cannot often get to a town to shop, are why the hygiene items LHI sends to Jordan from our Humanitarian Aid Warehouse are so desperately needed.

Lives in Syria Before

We visited a Syrian refugee family who had fled Aleppo at the beginning of the war. They lost their herd of goats and their livelihood, but escaped with their lives.They consider themselves lucky because most of their family and friends didn't make it out before they were killed. We sat in their humble home in Jordan hearing their story. Their young daughter, who was born in a refugee camp, wanted to give us something before we left, so she ran to the garden and picked fresh flowers for us.

Goats Change Lives

While in Jordan, I met multiple families that had gone from living in a tent in a refugee camp to living in a house within 2 years of LHI providing them with 2 goats. Prior to receiving goats from us these families had lived in a refugee camp for 10-12 years. Most of their children had been born in the refugee camps. Now, they have goats that provide nutrition, a way to make an income, a sense of dignity, and a new home!

This family received 2 goats from LHI 2 years ago. They've now grown their herd to 25 and have been able to rent a house with running water and electricity.

Carlissa with the herd!

Thank you Carlissa for sharing your visit to Jordan with us! It is amazing to see how much just two milk goats can transform the lives of Syrian families living in Jordan.

Please help LHI continue to change lives. You can make a donation to our Gather for Goats program here, or, if you want to get your children or school or youth group involved, check out our Kids Club program!

Meet the G.O.A.T.s of our Gather for Goats Kids' Club Program!

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

Meet Zoe Stanfill, the brains behind Goat Girls. The Goat Girls have run 3 fundraisers to raise money to purchase milk goats for Syrian refugees in Jordan.

The Stanfill family are longtime friends of LHI—Vanessa was a team leader for our Welcome Program in Utah, and the family has volunteered in our warehouse and participated in our seasonal Giving Tree program. Perhaps most impressive is the Stanfills’ support for our Gather for Goats program, which was spearheaded by Zoe Stanfill! I just had the most delightful interview with 3 members of the Stanfill family: Vanessa and her two children Zoe, 14, and Jed, 16.

The Stanfill family, Lark, Van, Zane, Zoe, Jed, Vanessa, enjoy a treat while volunteering at the LHI Humanitarian Aid Warehouse.

The Stanfill family was introduced to LHI by a neighbor when they moved to Utah in 2018. From the moment Zoe, then age 9, first heard of the Gather for Goats program, she was dead set on helping a refugee family get one of those goats. She told a few friends about her idea, and they formed a group called Goat Girls. 

The Covid-19 pandemic hit during the Goat Girls' first fundraiser. It became harder to sell Rice Krispy treats because people weren't out and about as much, but the Goat Girls kept at it!

The Goat Girls made Rice Krispy treats out of cereal and Tutti Frutti and sold them to neighbors and passers-by from their front lawn. It took the Goat Girls two years to sell enough Rice Krispy treats to donate a pair of milk goats—which they named Tutti Frutti and Marshmallow after the ingredients they’d spent so much time working with!

When the Goat Girls launched their second fundraiser, they decided to work smarter, not harder. They hosted a $25 dollar a plate dinner for their parents. They cooked all the food, prepared pies for dessert, decorated their pop-up restaurant, and served as the waitstaff. 

Buoyed by their success, the Goat Girls decided to go bigger the following year. They approached a neighbor, Chef Brad, who runs an in-home bakery and asked him to help them host an even bigger dinner. Chef Brad was willing, but suggested what he thought might be an even better money-maker: pizza! Zoe said, “So we decided to do that. And then we're like, it's the day before Mother's Day. So we're like, ‘What if we just send them uncooked and freeze them and cook them for Mother's Day?’”

Chef Brad and the Goat Girls (and Guys!) pizza crew!

Enter Jed. Not only does Jed have a driver’s license (those pizzas weren’t going to deliver themselves!), but also a head for dough, both literal and metaphoric. He put together the order forms for the pizzas AND set himself the task of turning a 50 pound bag of flour into dough. How much dough? Jed looked very tired as he told me: “We made eight batches. That expands to six and a half five-gallon buckets worth of dough.”

All told, the team sold 127 pizzas at $10 a pizza. Minus their $300 supply cost, they made almost $1,000 on the pizza fundraiser. And, with the help of Vanessa, they also held an online fundraiser that netted them another $2,000.

Zoe with her neighbor Harold who connected her with a donor family that matched the funds she and her friends and family raised for the Gather for Goats program.

But they weren’t done yet! Their neighbor, Harold, a financial manager, told Zoe about a client whose family’s Doing Good Foundation was willing to match the funds they’d raised for goats that year. Harold taught Zoe about how matching donations benefit nonprofits like LHI and why people with means choose to offer matching funds during a campaign. And, he coached her on the art of approaching a major donor and making a pitch. Did Zoe succeed in winning over the matching donor? Indeed she did! In fact, she just gave an impressive presentation to the Doing Good Foundation family to show them what the impact of their gift has been.

Zoe and Jed have learned a lot about fundraising over the past several years. They have this advice for other kids and teens who are thinking about launching their own goat fundraiser.

1. Make your fundraising appeals personal. Flyers and social media posts are good tools, but calling, visiting or texting friends and relatives individually and asking them for donations gets the best results.

2. Technology is helpful, except when it isn’t! Jed’s online order forms and the QR codes Zoe and Jed put on fliers worked for some, but older friends and neighbors had difficulty navigating them. Put a phone number on your fliers so people who want to make a donation but are having trouble with the technology can contact you.

3. Make it a community effort! Invite friends and neighbors to help out. Fundraising is hard work, but doing it with friends makes it fun!

4. Be persistent. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or for donations. If you don’t get a response, ask again! 

5. People LOVE naming goats! Anyone who donates enough to purchase a whole goat gets to name the goat. People love this. People love this enough to buy a goat!

Thank you so much Vanessa, Zoe, and Jed for taking the time to share your experiences and advice with us! And thank you to other members of the Stanfill family for your support of LHI over the years!

If you are a young person, teacher, or youth program leader and would like to find out more about how you can launch your own Gather for Goats Kids Club Fundraiser, click here!

Gather for Goats: A Path to Self-Sufficiency for Syrian Refugees in Jordan

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

Hayley Smith, LHI founder and director, poses with some of the 3,148 milk goats that we’ve distributed to Syrian refugee families living in Jordan.

“Goat milk?”

“Get your goat!”

“Here we goat again!”

A goat pun is never far from the lips (or typing fingers) of Lifting Hands International staff. It’s not really a surprise, since our Gather for Goats program is one of our longest running and most popular—you might even say it’s the G.O.A.T.! (See what I just did there?)

How it started

Gather for Goats was born when LHI founder and director Hayley Smith was distributing aid supplies to Syrian refugees living near the town of Al Mafraq in Jordan in 2017. When Hayley, who speaks Arabic, asked people what they needed, the response was overwhelmingly, “goats!” 

Many families who fled to Jordan are Bedouin and have a rich background in agriculture and caring for animals. They’ve been raising livestock for several generations. Raising goats and sheep was a prosperous and respected profession. But when the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, families had to leave everything behind, including their herds, some of which numbered in the hundreds.

Recently, LHI founder and director Hayley Smith was treated to a variety of goat milk products made by recipients of our goats!

Having goats again, people told Hayley, would improve their standard of living tremendously. How? Goat milk provides essential protein, vitamins and minerals. Also, people can sell extra milk and milk products. They can breed the goats to grow their herd and generate income by selling male offspring. 

Hayley, who has a passion for the Arabic language, loves connecting with beneficiaries and finding out exactly what they most need to achieve self-sufficiency and a sense of dignity.

The request made sense, so Hayley contacted a professor of agriculture at the University of Jordan in Amman for advice on the breed and finding a professional goat inspector. After connecting with a local partner org near the Syrian border in May 2017, we distributed our first 286 goats to 143 Syrian refugee families who live in improvised refugee camps across the Mafraq region. And we have only grown the program from there! To date, we’ve distributed 3,418 milk goats to Syrian families in Jordan!

Breed is Key!

We don’t distribute just any old breed of goat. We carefully select Shami-Baladi crossbreed goats, also known as Damascus goats. These friendly Middle Eastern natives are prolific milk producers, yielding 350 to 650 liters of milk annually, and often giving birth to twins and triplets. Baladi goats thrive in hot, arid environments, making them ideal for the beneficiaries of LHI's Gather for Goats program. These goats, sourced by LHI, are the perfect choice for promoting self-sufficiency, excelling in harsh conditions while providing abundant milk and offspring.

Last month, Hayley visited a family that received 2 LHI milk goats 2 years ago, one of which was already pregnant with triplets. In those two years, with a combination of breeding, selling male offspring to buy more females for more breeding, 2 goats into 25! They were able to move out of the camp into a home nearby. That’s goat to be a record!

Some experts think that  Shami goats' long ears help dissipate heat and keep them cooler in hot desert conditions.

We’ve distributed thousands of goats, so aren’t we done yet? Not by a long shot. There are an estimated 1.3 million Syrian refugees living in Jordan, and our waitlist for goats is longer than the ears on a Shami goat. Our goal this year is to give 2,108 milk goats to 1,054 families. With your help, we can provide a simple first step to improved nutrition, self-sufficiency, and the dignity that comes by practicing centuries-long traditions.

Have you goat what it takes to make a huge difference in the lives of Syrian families in Jordan? Visit our Gather for Goats page to make your gift today!

Gather for Goats: First Distribution of 2020!

During the first week of January, Hayley Smith (LHI Founder/Director) and Walker Frahm (LHI Chief Operations Officer) traveled to Al Mafraq, Jordan, to distribute the first round of goats in 2020 to Syrian refugee families living in the desert. During this trip, 216 goats were distributed to 108 grateful families.

How many LHI staff members does it take to distribute 216 goats to Syrian refugee families in Jordan? Two! Along with a translator, a goat expert, and a few friends…

Hayley Smith (LHI Founder/Director) prepares to distribute goats to Syrian refugee families!

In theory, it sounds straightforward. Raise money (thank you to all of our amazing supporters!), use it to buy milk goats in Jordan, and give them to Syrian refugee families. But what does it really take to get healthy goats to families with the greatest need? Read on to find out!

In 2017, while distributing aid supplies to refugees living near the town of Al Mafraq in Jordan (very near the Syrian border), Hayley asked what their greatest needs really were, in addition to the supplies they had already received. They shared that they were very, very thankful for the aid supplies. But if there was one thing that would really help their day-to-day situation, it would be… Goats!

Back in Syria, the families had large herds of goats. Tens, sometimes even hundreds of goats. In fact, they had been herding goats for generations. Being a goat farmer was a respected profession in Syria before the war. Goats provide a much-needed source of protein, which is hard to come by in the desert. Having goats again would set them up with a sustainable source of milk for several years. And by selling or raising baby goats, they could generate income to help get them back on their feet again.

The request made a lot of sense, so Hayley set out to find a way to make it work. She consulted a professor of agriculture from the University of Jordan in Amman to determine what breed of goat would best meet the need. He suggested Shami goats, a breed that produces milk 10 months out of the year and is well-adapted to living in the desert. Perfect!

Rashid is the director of Jabal Zamzam, a charity based in Al Mafraq, Jordan, that works with vulnerable populations, including local Syrian refugees.

In order to identify families in need and help find a reliable, local source for goats, Hayley partnered with Jabal Zamzam, a charity based in Al Mafraq whose mission is to help marginalized, vulnerable, and powerless groups in the local community, including refugees.

Working with Rashid, the director of Jabal Zamzam, they identified a local goat supplier that could provide healthy, young, Shami goats. Rashid then helped locate families living in local refugee camps who would benefit most from the gift of goats, such as those with young children and elderly family members. After the goats are distributed, he would also check in with each family periodically to get reports of baby goats being born and to help arrange for veterinary care, as needed.

Walker Frahm (LHI Chief Operations Offer) coordinates logistics associated with our goat distribution program, including managing operations on the ground.

Now it was time for Walker Frahm to jump in. Walker is LHI’s chief operating officer, and he is responsible for all the logistical plans including buying the goats, arranging for the goat breeder to deliver the goats to refugee camps, and overseeing distribution to the families identified by Jabal Zamam.

Walker wanted to be certain that the goats LHI buys are healthy, young, and will provide a good supply of milk for the families. So he enlisted the help of Mohammed, a goat expert with training from the University of Jordan. Mohammed inspects each goat prior to distribution, and only the youngest, healthiest goats pass his examination.

Mohammed is a goat and agricultural expert from the University of Jordan. He makes sure only the healthiest goats are distributed to Syrian refugee families.

When it came time to distribute goats, Hayley's Jordanian friend, Shadi, joined in on the action. He’s from Amman, about two hours south of Al Mafraq, and has lived in Jordan most of his life. Hayley speaks fluent Arabic, but there are some variations between the Arabic spoken in Jordan and Syria. Shadi helped make sure that all communication with the refugee families went smoothly.

Thanks to the hundreds of donors who gave generously during our Gather for Goats fundraising campaign in Sep–Oct 2019, we raised enough to provide 1,000 milk goats to refugees. During this trip, Hayley and Walker, along with Rashid, Mohammed, and Shadi, distributed 216 of those goats to 108 needy families.

Hayley speaks Arabic, but it’s handy to have someone from Jordan like Shadi around to help make sure everything is communicated clearly.

As a special part of the campaign, donors were able to name a goat for every $300 they donated, and LHI has sent them photos of their goats along with Geotags of their distribution locations. Check out the gallery of photos below to see all of the 123 named goats! Hayley posed for a photo with each and every one of them. Thank you for doing that, Hayley, and thanks so much to everyone who makes this work possible!

To date, 1,126 goats have been distributed, and more than 1,850 baby goats have been born!

For every $300 given, donors were able to submit a name for the goat their funds provided. Above are the pictures of the named goats! Donors received these photos via email, along with a Geotag showing their goat’s approximate location and some basic info about the beneficiary families.

My Sister, Umm Bisaam

By Patrick Petro, LHI Development Director

It was during a phone call in late August with LHI founder/director, Hayley Smith, and chief operations officer, Walker Frahm, that we decided it would be beneficial to our upcoming Gather for Goats campaign (a fundraiser to provide 1,000 goats to Syrian refugee families living in Jordan) to capture some video of families who had recently received goats through the program. We wanted to give them an opportunity to tell their stories, so we could share them with our supporters and illustrate the life-changing impact the gift of a goat truly makes. Hayley often films while she is on the ground visiting with refugees at our various humanitarian aid programs around the world, but this time she wanted to be free to talk with the families without also being responsible for shooting video. So she asked if I wanted to come film.

My professional background is quite varied, and includes, in addition to fundraising experience, time spent working as a photographer and videographer. So I was thrilled at the opportunity to utilize these skills for LHI by filming Hayley in Jordan. Plus, having never been to Jordan before, I was totally up for a new adventure! Less than a week after our phone call, I was on a red-eye to Jordan.

It was a whirlwind of a trip. 2 days of traveling, 2 days in Jordan, and 2 days coming back home. With a 7-hour time difference from my home in Indiana combined with overnight flights and a fast-paced schedule, saying I was jet-lagged upon return would be a gross understatement. But the experience was unforgettable—and inspiring! Watching Hayley talk with Syrian families in their native Arabic language was heartwarming, to say the least. It was apparent that the families felt so comfortable opening up to her. Hayley’s genuine love for them was also apparent. It was like watching old friends meet up, friends that have known one another for years. No, it was more like watching family reunite after a long separation. Seeing Hayley and Umm Bisaam, who you will meet in this video, was like seeing sisters together again. But this family had only met Hayley once before, a few weeks ago, when their goats were distributed to them.

I could go on and on about the warmth Hayley and the families shared. Or about the harrowing stories they told us about leaving everything in their world behind—their community, their homes, their children’s school, their herds of thousands of goats—to flee the destruction brought on by jets and bombs near their former homes in Syria. But I think it’s better to just let this short film I made speak for itself. Enjoy.

You can help provide goats to Syrian refugee families like Umm Bisaam’s by donating to our Gather for Goats program. Click here to donate now.

Double Your Donation!

You know a charitable foundation is serious about humanitarian work when they offer a match grant AND also ask to remain anonymous. So you can only imagine how honored we were to be the recipient of such generosity when an LHI supporter and her foundation pledged a huge match grant to our Gather for Goats program.

What is a match grant, exactly? That means every dollar donated is MATCHED by another donor (in this case, a foundation). The match grant turns your $10 donation into $20. Your $150 donation becomes $300, which buys a whole goat! It’s the best 2-for-1 special you’ll ever come across, except maybe McDonald’s Egg McMuffins.

The match grant didn’t just come out of nowhere, however! Here’s the story, which I admittedly love sharing because it shows how crazy beneficial the goat program is!

A regular supporter of ours works for a charitable foundation that funds humanitarian projects around the world. While taking a holiday in Jordan earlier this year, she checked out our goat project — visiting recipient families, meeting their goats, drinking their milk and talking with them about how the goats benefit them.

After taking in all the facts and all the stories, her foundation offered us a match grant of $120,000. So, every dollar we raise up to $120,000 through our own efforts gets matched by them dollar for dollar. So $120,000 become $240,000! I think the amount offered proves how needed the program is right now for Syrian refugee families living in the desert of Jordan.

The only downside of this whole arrangement is not being able to thank [ANONYMOUS FOUNDATION] by name. Thank you to them, and thank you to all of you supporters out there!

Click here to support our Gather for Goats program before October 31, 2019, and your donation will be DOUBLED!

LHI Goat Project FAQ

From LHI's May 2017 distribution in Jordan. Photo by Mike Walton.

Thank you so much for your interest in and support for our ongoing goat project in Jordan. Here are some frequently asked questions and answers. 

1. Why goats?
Goats provide a sustainable food source, restoration of some parts of culture (the families are Bedouin), and eventual source of income. And perhaps the biggest reason: Family after family that we visited pled with us for goats so that they have a sustainable source of milk.

2. Why don't the refugees already have a sustainable food source? 
Jordan got hit hard by the Syrian refugee crisis. Only 5% of 2 million refugees (registered and unregistered) live in camps. There are very few NGOs supporting refugees who live outside of camps. 

3. How do you know the refugees won't sell/eat the goats?
The kind of breed we get them aren't really for food. The breed is perfect for producing milk and breeding. The families sign a contract stating they will not sell or kill their goats. Our partner org checks on the families and their goats every month. 

4. How did you select the 400 families who will get goats?
Our Jordanian parter org selected the families based on a vulnerability scale. The aid workers know the refugees and their families very well. The project has been receiving incredibly well in the area. The rest of the families who are waiting to receive goats are very excited. 

5. Why are you asking $300 per goat? That seems like a lot. Is there overhead?
Baby goats are about $80. A regular adult goat is about $180. But a milk producing female --meaning, a young, healthy adult who has given birth and will continue to produce milk for at least a year until it gets pregnant again -- is $270. Because bringing food and nutrition to the refugees is our priority, *those* are the goats we want.

We absolutely do not profit from this campaign. Like any project, there is a little overhead and admin costs. The extra money goes towards: Monthly checks on the goats (lots of gasoline and hours), periodic visits to the veterinarian, and distribution costs. 

6. Aren't there orgs that provide goats for families at a much cheaper cost?
There are some great orgs that provide livestock to impoverished families, but they don't work in Jordan. They do a lot of their work in India and other developing countries, which is why you'll see a cheaper cost. 

7. What happens if the goats get sick?
Recipient families will contact Jabal Zamzam, our partner org. Jabal Zamzam team will take the sick goats to a local veterinarian. Veterinary care for goats is government-subsidized, as goats are such a massive and important industry here. 

8. How will the goats eat? Isn't it a desert?
Jordan is prime land for grazing and has been for thousands of years. In fact, 50,000 families in Jordan still make their living by raising herds of goats and sheep. Jordan is the 3rd largest exporter of goats in the world, and the vast majority of those goats come from herds that graze in the countryside. We want refugee families to benefit from these resources. 

9. How can you make sure the goats won't get stolen?
Petty theft in Jordan is basically non-existent. The families' nearest neighbors are also Syrian refugees who will also get goats or Jordanian farmers who also already have goats. There are goats everywhere in Jordan. Goat-napping just doesn't really happen. 

10. You are only distributing female goats. What happens when the females die out?
Distributing two female goats is by design, as protein-rich food (milk, cheese, yogurt) is our top priority! Our partner org has agreed with Jordanian farmers to lend male goats from their own herds for mating. The resulting kids will belong to the refugees. We've already seen some goats have babies! Congrats to those mamas!