It is never a good idea to give an animal as a gift — except in this case.

When I saw this catalog, I was skeptical that it was just another gimmick to make me open it up. Actually, I was amazed what was inside.

If you could do one small thing to help a family living in poverty, and this one thing would continue to help future generations, would you do it?

This holiday season, rather than buy more toys for kids who already have closets full of them, or chocolates for people like me who don't need the extra pounds, how about buying a beehive or llama as gift for a family that really needs it?

Heifer International is a non-profit organization that donates animals and trees to poor families all over the world (and in the U.S., too). The goal is to end world hunger while caring for the environment.

Giving a cow or goat to a family in Armenia, Peru, Cambodia, Poland and other developing countries will help them out of poverty and on the road to self-reliance.

A cow produces gallons of milk a day, enough for drinking, and the rest can be sold. Profits from the milk help buy food, clothing and medicine.

Goats can live in arid conditions. From goat's milk, cheese, butter and yogurt can be made and sold. Animal manure helps fertilize gardens.

These animals reproduce quickly. As flocks and herds grow, the family "passes on" the gift by agreeing to share offspring with their neighbors, thereby making a whole village self-reliant.

Besides cows and goats, you can donate sheep (for wool production), chicks (one hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year), llamas and water buffalo (as draft animals) and even bees (honey). Bees help double fruit and vegetable pollination.

Before the family receives the animal, they must undergo training on proper care.

Donations range from $10 for tree seedlings, $20 for a flock of chicks, $30 for honeybees, $120 for a goat and up.

Caring for the environment and others is the best gift of all. How about donating an animal in someone's name? Heifer International will send a card to the recipient about the gift made in their name.

For more information, please visit: www.heifer.org.

There's going to be a wrapped goat under my sister's tree this year. I wonder what she'll say?

Animal lover Leslie Kawamoto has been with The Advertiser for 18 years, or 126 dog years. Check out her blog at www.HonoluluAdvertiser.com/Blogs