THE DAILY NEWS

FRANKLINTON n Members, friends and family of the Washington Parish Chapter of Heifer Project International gathered last week to look back on the year and celebrate the holiday season with food, fun and fellowship at this year's annual HPI banquet.

Approximately 50 members of the community gathered for food, conversation and the chance at taking home a door prize n all under the guise of appreciating HPI, an international non-profit organization aimed at ending world hunger by assisting in achieving sustainable farms and communities all over the world n including Washington Parish.

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"It's been a good year for HPI," County Agent Henry Harrison said, noting many of the activities the organization has engaged in over the year. Among them were the sixth annual Pass-On program, in which two families were given heifers for instrumental use in the growth of their farms, as well as a program on the use of artificial insemination to assist in the growth of livestock.

"I think we set the pace for the future of farming with our artificial insemination field day," Harrison said.

Harrison noted the organization has quite a few programs in for the next season, and looks forward to an even more prosperous year in 2005.

HPI, headquartered in Little Rock, AR and with offices all around the world, has a mission to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth, and has been doing so for over 60 years.

According to the organization's website, HPI's strategy is to "pass on the gift," as persons share their animals' offspring with others n "along with their knowledge, resources and skills n an expanding network of hope, dignity and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe."

For more information on Heifer Project International, visit the organization's website at www.heifer.org.