The Daily Dispatch

Lidgerwood administrators puckered up for a good cause last Friday and kissed some hairy livestock.

The school is taking part in a program which acts upon the simple idea that world hunger can be ended by giving food and income producing livestock to poor families around the world.

The “Give a Goat” campaign began two months ago in Lidgerwood and students have been raising money to purchase goats to deliver to poor families. The students raised $417.22, which is enough to send three goats to needy families in Uganda. Each goat costs $120 to purchase and deliver. Early on in the program, administrator Tony Grubb and elementary principal, Wayne Hinrichs, said they would kiss a goat for every $50 raised. Between the high school and elementary, both administrators locked lips with some hairy creatures, all in the name of a good cause.

The Lidgerwood students worked through their school library in the “Give a Goat” campaign. Goats can thrive in extreme climates on poor, dry land by eating grass and leaves. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to several quarts of nutritious milk a day and a ton of milk in a year. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt. Their manure is used to fertilize gardens and, because goats often have two or three kids a year, heifer partners can lift themselves out of poverty by starting small dairies to earn money for food, healthcare and education. Families who receive goats are then asked to “pass a gift” by giving a kid to a neighbor, so a new family can have a better life.

Mary Roman, librarian at Lidgerwood, said she originally found out about the program by reading the book, “Beatrice’s goat.”

“Instead of feeding someone for a day, we are giving them the ability to feed themselves for a lifetime,” Roman said.

The following is an excerpt from the book, “When her family's fat, sleek new goat arrives in her poor Ugandan village, little Beatrice hugs her close and whispers, ‘Mama says you are our lucky gift...’ And indeed it is true. Soon the goat bears two kids and provides enough milk to both feed the family and sell for profit. Until the goat arrived, life was very hard for Beatrice and her five brothers and sisters. The family could not afford to send the children to school, and it was difficult to make ends meet. Magically this one small animal, one of 12 given the village, opens up a new world of health and prosperity.”

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