World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 - (Page 40)

heifer spirit Giving Resources, Giving Self and the winner is… Fundraiser Oliver Yost’s enthusiasm for Heifer began with a goat. Delaware Student Honored By Jaman Matthews, World Ark Associate Editor T wenty-year-old oliver yost has been a nationally ranked figure skater, received awards for his community activism, and been honored for his leadership, all while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. and now he has received heifer international’s first annual young fundraiser award. it all started for yost when his grandmother gave a goat in his honor for Christmas a few years ago. yost, then a home-schooled student from wilmington, del., was intrigued and decided to learn more. for two years, he and his mother saved their change in a jar and donated it to heifer. soon, yost’s father had joined in. yost wanted to share his enthusiasm about ending hunger and poverty through gifts of livestock and training. open Connections, an organization that allows homeschoolers of all ages to get together for activities and projects, requires each student to make a presentation about a subject they found interesting during the academic year. yost gave a presentation about heifer. beatrice biira, of Beatrice’s Goat fame, and umaru sule, heifer’s Mid-atlantic regional assistant, both attended oliver’s presentation and shared their stories with the students, parents and open Connections staff. “i was impressed with oliver’s deep understanding about heifer’s work,” said sule, “and his passion for the organization and issues of hunger and poverty.” sule regularly talked with yost’s mother and discussed how yost could further motivate the students at open Connections and their families to support heifer. yost’s family and open Connections rallied around a heifer project in Cameroon and raised about $23,000. “oliver is truly a remarkable young person with a lot of talent and compassion for humanity,” said sule. for his work, yost received the young fundraiser award, conceived to honor and recognize young people between the ages of 12 and 24 who have helped heifer through fundraising. the ceremony was held on international youth day, aug. 12, 2008, at heifer international’s headquarters in little rock, ark. other nominees for the young fundraiser award included brett goodfriend of Malibu, Calif., Madeline Peltz of Chicago, ill., jennifer hou of Closter, n.j., Zach goldberg of little rock, ark., and Zach Meskell of houston, texas. this year, international youth day will be wednesday, aug. 12. to find out how to nominate a young person for the second annual young fundraiser award, contact your regional heifer office at www.heifer.org/regions. n Information for this story was submitted by Umaru Sule, Heifer’s Mid-Atlantic regional assistant. www.h ei f er .o r g 40 j a n uar y / feb ruar y 2 0 0 9 | world ark http://www.heifer.org/regions http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009

World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Microfinance: A Lot for a Little Business is Buzzing in Honduras The World Grows Smaller Mixed Media Heifer Spirit Heifer Bulletin Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - January/February 2009

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