Dan West

Who was Dan West?

Dan West was the founder of Heifer International, a charitable organization dedicated to relieving hunger and poverty. A native of Ohio, born in 1893, West was a member of the Church of the Brethren and graduated from Manchester University in 1917. As a church man from Indiana, West spent two years as a conscientious objector during World War I. After working for the Emergency Peace Campaign in 1936, he traveled to Spain to serve as the director of a relief program in the Spanish Civil War. He grew weary of handing out rationed supplies and thought there had to be a better way of eliminating hunger. He gave the idea to his neighbors and many congregations in northern Indiana of donating young heifers to families in need. The involvement from his community led him to bigger dreams. His idea became an official program of the Church of the Brethren in 1942 and eventually became an independent nonprofit corporation in 1953. His phrase "not a cup of milk, but a cow" became the mantra for Heifer International, which continues on today.

Upon returning to the United States, West pushed for two more programs to be created.