World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - (Page 44)

Heifer Spirit Giving Resources, Giving Self Little Girl, Big Heart “She is a shy girl and would accept no thanks. It touches my heart.” By Jonelle Doughty, World Ark Intern Anne-Laure Razat and Noah Hertzler, grandson of Heifer volunteer Elmer K. Hertzler, are congratulated by Heifer’s Umaru Sule, left, and state Sen. Andrew Dinniman of Pennsylvania. Anne-Laure designed and sold greeting cards to raise money for Heifer International. Photos: Caroline Razat n August 2007, 9-year-old Anne-Laure Razat left her mother, Caroline, waiting nervously in the principal’s office of Glen Acres Elementary School in West Chester, Pa. The third-grader had a meeting with school officials to pitch a school-wide reading marathon to benefit Heifer, and she insisted she was capable of speaking to them on her own. A nne-Laure’s independence and determination were nothing new. Caroline Razat said her daughter began saving change in a jar when she was 3 years old to donate to people in need. And in 2005, Anne-Laure raised $1,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina by setting up a lemonade stand in her front yard at 8:30 a.m. the day after the storm. That same year she set out to donate $5,000, enough for a Gift Ark, to Heifer International. To reach her goal, AnneLaure designed and sold greeting cards, held a yard sale and helped organize several small reading marathons. On the day of her meeting with school officials, she still I needed to raise about $2,000. The principal and PTO president agreed a reading event could help raise the rest of the money while educating students about world hunger, so they agreed to the reading marathon to help Anne-Laure meet her goal. Umaru Sule, community relations coordinator at Heifer’s Mid-Atlantic regional office, visited the school to explain to the children exactly how their contributions would help families in poor countries. He then met with Anne-Laure to thank her for her hard work. “Anne-Laure is an amazing young person whose heart is bigger than she is. She is a shy girl and would accept no thanks. It touches my heart.” In less than a month, Glen Acres Elementary School students raised $5,300. That put Anne-Laure’s tally at $8,147 after more than two years of work, but she’s not stopping now. Her new goal is to raise $1 million for Heifer. “I’m not pushing her to do this,” Caroline Razat said. “She’s dragging me behind her.” 44 September/October 2008 | WORLD ARK www.heifer.org http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008

World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Digging Up the Past Not a Drop to Drink Facing the Ogres of Progress Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit World Ark Market Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008

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