Misha’s Minions Want YOU to Buy Farm Animals for the Holidays
A group of Misha Collins fans, including previously interviewed Shatterproof Challenge participant Ari, have dubbed themselves Agents of M.I.S.H.A and have started a holiday campaign in the name of kindness. The campaign, called Holiday Heifer, aims to buy livestock for families in need through the Heifer International charity. Though the money will be going to the Heifer International charity, the idea is inspired by the goals of Misha’s charity Random Acts, which encourages people to perform random acts of kindness daily to make the world a better place. While Misha isn’t directly involved with the project, all funds are being raised in his name. When the project is complete, he will receive a card detailing what animals have been purchased on his behalf.
The campaign is set to run through December 24th with the aim of raising $500 to purchase “flocks of chicks, rabbits and even some larger animals like goats or cows if [they] raise enough money.” According to the website, the livestock ranges from $20 for a flock of chicks to up to $500 for a cow. There are also specialty “baskets” such as the Milk Menagerie, which provides four milk-producing animals, and the Gift Ark, which includes “two water buffalos, two cows, two sheep and two goats, along with bees, chicks, rabbits and more.” The animals can be used in any way the recipients see fit, whether it’s for the eggs, milk, wool, or to raise as food. With their goal of $500, the group has the power to affect not only dozens of families directly, but entire communities by introducing much needed products to the economy.
Misha’s kindness continues to inspire the fandom to pull off amazing things. As of this writing, the fund has raised $120 towards their $500 goal, but come on, we’re the fandom that helped build an orphanage and community center in Haiti and just started a school project in Nicaragua. Let’s not only meet that goal, but let’s shatter it. Let’s buy a cow, a dozen flocks of chicks, and toss in some rabbits for the hell of it. Come on, minions. Let’s send some livestock to communities in need in the name of Misha.
Author: Angel Wilson
Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.
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Thank you so much for helping spread the word about this holiday charity initiative!!! You guys are the best!!
I wish some research had been done before choosing this charity. It’s not rated well and the money is mismanaged, much of it going to the ceo and wasteful marketing. I’m sure the intent was good, but maybe this is why more isn’t being raised. Why not give money to Misha’s charity instead?
Thank you for the comment. If you want to talk to the people running it, their twitter account is @AgentsofMisha. They are a great group of folks and will probably be receptive to feedback like this.
One of our admins, Erin, also supports this charity though so if you have some resources I’m sure she’d like to know about it as well. I personally take the charities I support very seriously. My personal favorites are Doctors Without Borders and, of course, Random Acts.
Hope that helps! And I look forward to hearing back from you with information on the charity if possible so I can pass it on to my own admin, since this is personal for her too.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3809#.Vmijqr-mTC4
http://blog.givewell.org/2009/12/28/celebrated-charities-that-we-dont-recommend/
From Heifer’s website “Gifts made to Heifer represent a gift to the entire mission”
I know they can’t change the charity now but I wanted to share why some might hesitate. I’m more comfortable giving to random acts. charity: water is also good because 100% of donations go to providing clean water.
Thanks for the links. I really do appreciate taking the time to show us these. And yeah, giving to RA is a good idea. It’s a charity I trust, for sure.
I agree. I’m really uneasy about all livestock charities in general, Heifer in particular.
I’ve been pretty heartbroken over this, ngl. It’s a goodhearted & well-meaning campaign but I cannot support it due to my own ethical issues.
This link lists issues w Heifer as well as linking to animal, environment and human-friendly options for others who feel uncomfortable but wish to give 🙂
http://awfw.org/no-animal-gifts/
Thank you for adding an alternative! 🙂 Feel free to reach out to the people running the campaign on Twitter. They are a good group of folks and would probably be open to feedback for future campaigns.
Not a fan of that site, M – mostly implications about possible negative impacts, possible mismanagement and malfeasance at Heifer, possible cruelty to animals, etc., without any solid information. Their bias is obvious, which should be removed from a discussion of pros and cons of a specific organization.
That said, there are legitimate questions that should be considered when making decisions about giving. Also, I understand not wanting to support a process that gives animals-for-meat to people if you’re vegan/vegetarian.