Heifer Sacramento volunteer John Brewer presented a framed certificate of appreciation to Ms. Julie Bair and her fifth grade class at Seven Hills Middle School in Nevada City, California this November. Ms. Bair’s guided her fifth grade students in a service learning project, Scarecrows for Heifer. The project sparked creativity among her students and engaged their families and the community to raise funds to benefit resource poor farmers served by Heifer International.

Ms. Bair has worked with students in the Nevada City schools on scarecrow projects over many years to raise funds to support Heifer International’s mission of helping families. Hats off to Ms. Bair from Heifer International for her dedication to both Heifer and developing the next generation of donors!

This year, Ms. Bair's fifth grade students each gathered materials and designed handcrafted scarecrows, which were then sold at Prospector’s Nursery in Nevada City for $40 each. This year’s Scarecrows for Heifers received generous donations from B&C True Value (lumber), Pearson’s Feed (hay), and Ridge Feed and Supply (burlap sacks) in Grass Valley. All of the proceeds went to the class project and the students decided how to use the proceeds to purchase livestock that would be donated.

John enjoyed interacting with the students, hearing about what they had learned about Heifer, and offering them a bit more information on Heifer's mission. He told them more about Heifer’s Cornerstones and answering their very thoughtful questions. John plans to return to Ms. Bair’s class early next fall during the early phase of their next scarecrow project and prepare an article on their efforts for Heifer International’s The Ark magazine.

Read more about Heifer's Cornerstones or Values Based Development.