When you choose a gift like goats, chickens, or bees, you really are giving the Best.Gift.Ever. These symbolic gifts are fun gift-giving ideas for your loved ones - and are life changing for children and families around the world. Here’s how:
At 14, Zoe from Neyaashiinigmiing in Ontario has more experience than most in working toward food sovereignty. Firmly embedded in her Indigenous food traditions and heritage, Zoe has championed for food security and food sovereignty all her life. From her Elders, she’s learned how to grow food and eat from the land and leads her peers in tending the school orchard and produce garden.
Zoe says “Our community is filled with caring and loving people and I feel really safe living here. That’s why I’ve been proud to be a part of our school and community gardening programs. It’s really great to see everybody come together and make something that we can all benefit from. I’ve also learned a lot about food that grows within our native lands. I enjoy harvesting wild foods like leeks, morels, puffballs and apples. I also like to go partridge hunting with my Papa. Sometimes, we are able to give some of the food that we’ve gathered to other people in the community. This makes me feel good about myself".
We at Canadian Feed The Children have been honoured to watch Zoe grow over the years into the young leader she is today. Zoe challenges us all to think of how our small actions can make a big impact.
By buying a Best.Gift.Ever you are helping children like Zoe learn the importance of regaining food sovereignty and supporting programs like school and community gardens, Indigenous knowledge education and much more!
Zoe working in the community garden
Irene’s world was shattered when her father passed away. Her mother Gertrude had almost nothing with which to feed and educate her six children. With Irene’s future hanging in the balance, Gertrude was given the gift of a lifetime - a donation from generous Canadian supporters to grow her garden into a business. Today Irene and her siblings eat well and are excelling in school. When you choose to give to greatest need ($50), you’ll be giving life-changing support to children like Irene who need it most.
Florence’s family struggled when her husband lost his job as a fisherman. They couldn’t pay school fees and they couldn’t grow enough food for their three children. But the gift of goats ($75) made all the difference. Florence used the goat and training she received to grow her herd to nine animals. Thanks to her successful livestock business, her children no longer worry about hunger or being turned away from school. Giving goats means a stable income for families, and a path to a brighter future for children.
7-year-old Malaika who lives in Lubicon Lake Band, is learning how to harvest and prepare traditional foods alongside her friends and family in the community. The program has made a difference for everyone, especially since food prices are so high.
Malaika’s mom Loretta is proud that she’s using what she’s learned to help others. She told us that Malaika volunteers with her to help prepare hampers filled with traditional foods to share in the community. It’s a big part of re-establishing Indigenous food sovereignty.
Thanks to our supporters, these primary school students are receiving brand new school uniforms ($29). Usually mandatory but often unaffordable, this simple gift allows a child to enroll in school, gives her confidence and a sense of belonging. Children in our programs frequently say that their school uniform is their most treasured possession. For just $15, your gift provides a child with a warm memory and the priceless opportunity to stay in and graduate from school.
School meals ($75) are the heart and soul of our Canadian programming and ensure children in First Nations communities are nourished in their bodies, minds and spirits. All of CFTC's Canadian school food programs - like this one here at Elsipogtog First Nation in Elsipogtog FN, NB - provide well-balanced, breakfasts, lunches and snacks. School food programs increasingly include a nutrition education component, to create a long-term impact on food security, nutrition and health for children and parents alike.
Nayeti’s sweet smile says it all; she’s a happy, thriving 12-year-old growing up in Ghana. Thanks to donor support, her mother Linda recently began a beekeeping business that she knows will bring her family success.
Beekeeping was an affordable option to help Linda and her fellow female group members earn more income. Her group has set up 30 beehives and is looking forward to their first harvest. Linda says that being part of the beekeeping group has already improved her social life, and the income will pay for school fees, clothes and other needs for her children.
As for Nayeti, she couldn’t be happier about her mother’s new business – especially when she gets to eat the honey.
Nourishing food and knowledge at Eel Ground FN, NB. CFTC Program Coordinator shows six-year-old Serenity where fresh food comes from at the Eel Ground school and community garden. Your Community & School Gardens gift ($85) buys seeds, garden tools and supplies and educational materials to teach kids how to make good things grow in their community!
In one region of Ethiopia, 1,580 children in 10 primary schools are heading back to class - but for a while, their parents weren't sure this would be possible. Conflict in a nearby region kept children out of school.
Sichale, a teacher in one of the local primary schools, explains that the school building was damaged and teaching equipment, school supplies and other items were taken. Many families temporarily relocated, and now that the conflict is over, it is still a challenge for them to afford school supplies for their children.
Thanks to donor support the children and schools received essential supplies like notebooks, flipcharts and markers, sports equipment, and radios so they can listen into lessons that are broadcast over the radio.
In CFTC's communities, such as Bidima, Ghana pictured above (read more), the Best Gift Ever is a clean, private, easily-accessible and gender-segregated latrine ($125). Having to defecate openly infringes on human safety and dignity. Women and girls risk rape and abuse as they wait until night falls to gain some privacy. Even where toilets do exist, they generally remain inadequate for those with special needs and women and girls requiring facilities to manage menstrual hygiene. That is why latrines are so critical to be built near to schools. Where they exist, the drop-out rate for girls at puberty declines.
Mariam, a 15-year-old girl who lives in Ghana, found studying on her own difficult, especially because of the lack of books. She wasn’t the only student with this challenge, so teachers at her school began a reading club with the help of donations from CFTC supporters.
Mariam says that the reading club has helped boost her self-confidence and improve her grades. She’s gone from struggling with reading to finding joy in her favourite new hobby.
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