World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007 - (Page 53)

D O N O R S A U C T I O N W E D D I N G R I N G TO S U P P O R T H E I F E R’ S M I S S I O N arla Schneider lay in bed gazing at the sparkling diamond at the center of her wedding ring. Yet it wasn’t the joy of her wedding day or the deep love she shares with her husband, Erik, that held her focus. Instead, she kept thinking of a statistic she had read in World Ark: one child dies every five seconds due to hunger. “As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, I felt an anguished pain in my heart every five seconds,” she said. Tears welled up in Carla’s eyes as she realized what she wanted to do to continue her family’s commitment to ending hunger. Her wedding ring would be auctioned off, with the proceeds going toward alleviating hunger and poverty, the cornerstones of Heifer’s mission. “As soon as it came to me, I started crying because it felt so right,” she said. Her thoughts soon turned to what her husband would think. “I was so worried that he was going to be offended or think I didn’t like the ring, but that wasn’t the case at all,” she said. Carla’s fears were for naught, as Erik felt the same way his wife did about the decision. “I was really touched because I thought it was like the greatest gift, as far as our family acknowledging that we have this strong bond,” he said. The winning bidder for the wedding ring will be personally involved with the proceeds of the auction. One of the stipulations is that whoever wins the ring will then choose exactly where the money goes through Hope Equity. Erik said they were drawn to Heifer Foundation, and specifically its new initiative Hope Equity, because it was a more permanent and secure way to support the work of Heifer International. “With Hope Equity you can track the money you gave, ” he said. “We really like that idea.” Erik added that he hopes their story can in some way serve as inspiration to others who have a passion for ending hunger and poverty. “Years down the road somebody might come across something of value to them and think of what they could do with it (to help end hunger),” he said. Ultimately, Carla sees the auctioning of her wedding ring as a parallel to Heifer’s mission of “passing on the gift.” “Erik passed on the ring to me and now we are passing it on as a family to somebody else,” she said. “They will then pass it on to someone they love and the money spent on the ring will be passed on to others and then passed on to others.” (For the full version of this story, please visit www.hopeequity.org.) z RING FOR HOPE å By Jeremy Glover C For more information on the wedding ring auction, visit www.hopeequity.org/auction. AUCTION DEADLINE: November 10, 2007, the date of the Schneider’s sixth wedding anniversary. Please complete and return this reply form. Dear Friends at Heifer Foundation: Please send me a FREE copy of Circle of Giving. I have already provided for Heifer in my will. Please send me a complimentary will kit. Please contact me about Hope Equity. Name: Address: City: Phone: E-mail: Mail this form to: Heifer Foundation, P.O. Box 727, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 www.heiferfoundation.org (888) 422-1161 State: Zip: Photography by Kathryn Barnard http://www.hopeequity.org/auction http://www.hopeequity.org http://www.hopeequity.org http://www.heiferfoundation.org http://www.heiferfoundation.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

World Ark - November/December 2007 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked & Answered Pursuing Happiness (PRODUCT) RED: Consumer Power Fights AIDS in Africa Rwanda Reconciles End Hunger Now Protecting the Poor from Climate Change Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit Heifer Calendar Reflection

World Ark Magazine - November/December 2007

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