In 1996, Heifer International launched its first urban agriculture initiative in North America in Chicago, IL. Since that time, Heifer has grown to working with at-risk youth in communities across the U.S. For the people in these communities, death is an ever-present reality, and periodically it rears its head within the Heifer family.

Recently, a member of Growing Power, an urban agriculture project centered in Milwaukee, WI and started by Heifer friend and partner Will Allen, suffered the loss of one of the young people in their group. His life was cut short senselessly by the dangerous environment that too many of our fellow brothers and sisters in this nation face as a daily reality.

In the wake of this tragedy, Heifer Foundation and Heifer's North America Program have established a Youth Legacy Endowment to support Heifer's ongoing work with youth programs throughout North America. The endowment will be used to establish a Youth Talent Award to be given annually to an outstanding young person involved in Heifer programs in North America. The recipient will receive a cash award with a portion going to him/her; a portion going to the community project where they are involved; and, a major portion will be set-aside in a fund for their education.

Heifer's Northeast Program Manager, Alison Meares-Cohen, established the endowment with the first gift. The following is an excerpt from her letter:

"This endowment is a response to the violent murder of a member of Growing Power's Youth Corps in Milwaukee. His name was Javon Duane Tucker. Duane had been a member of the Youth Corps for about four years. His death, allegedly attributed to gang activity, is a tragedy. It is the fourth such violent death among youth in Heifer programs that I am aware of since I started this job seven years ago. Every single one of those deaths involved minority youth - mostly male and mostly in urban areas.

The depth of my sadness over this tragedy, and the others before Duane's, is unfathomable. Heifer has an opportunity and a responsibility (as well as a proven passion) to work with youth and I hope this endowment will enable us to provide more assistance to a greater number of youth."

By contributing to this endowment, you can help Heifer Foundation to grow the funds available to these programs, while providing added incentive to the young people working on these programs.

For more information on how you can contribute download the endowment forms from the dowload center. Or, click here.

Need more information?
Download a pdf on Country Endowments from our download center.