February 7, 2011

This young Kenyan woman milking a cow serves as an example of the original mission of Heifer International, the brainchild of Dan West. The idea for the program originated while West was providing aid in the form of powdered milk for children displaced by the 1930s Spanish Civil War. As the children returned day after day, West decided that it would be better to provide a cow for each family. The program, which began in 1944 with the shipment of seventeen heifers, has its international headquarters in Little Rock (Pulaski County) and has grown into a worldwide organization that today assists millions.