[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 686]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        CHILDREN SHALL LEAD THEM

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2006

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend a group of young people 
in Vermont who have done a wonderful thing, worth bringing to the 
attention of my colleagues in the Congress and the American people.
  A group of students in the Sunday School of the United Church in 
Lincoln, Vermont, have raised over $5,000 dollars for Heifer 
International. Lincoln is a beautiful community in the Green Mountains 
of Vermont, but it is not a large community, so a fundraising effort of 
this magnitude, for the benefit of a rural village in an underdeveloped 
country is testimony to how much the youth of America care about the 
world.
  This project began with conversations about world hunger. Students, 
as young as 3 and as old as 14, decided that raising money for Heifer 
International would be a good way to address, positively, the issue of 
world hunger.
  Many people are trapped by poverty, underdevelopment, and the 
impossibility of finding the resources they need for self-improvement. 
Heifer International believes in self-help: if human beings are given 
the tools they need, they can improve their lives. So Heifer 
International provides livestock, education in agriculture, and small 
business counseling, so individuals and entire communities get a hand 
up instead of a handout.
  Over the course of 18 months the kids of the United Church Sunday 
School made countless cow-shaped cookies and holiday ornaments and sold 
them for a dollar each. It took a lot of cookies and ornaments to reach 
the goal of $5,000. They were helped by the school superintendent, 
Chris Bohjalian and a group of dedicated Sunday school teachers. But 
the real effort, the real credit, goes to the young people, for on this 
past Christmas Eve, their goal of $5,000 was reached.
  An ``ark'' of farm animals will be delivered to a village, most 
likely in Armenia, the gift of visionary and committed children from 
Lincoln, Vermont. According to Pastor David Wood, the ark will have 
everything ``from fish to llamas to cows. And chickens and pigs, and 
also trees to provide ongoing food and medicinals.''
  Yes, we do live in a global village, and our children are showing us 
how it can be rich in generosity and neighborliness.

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