Goat Tales: Lee’s Summit woman changes lives with 1,000 goats
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — A retired Missouri woman has spent the last decade helping dozens of families all over the world, but she’s doing so in an unconventional way.
“This one’s a real nibbler. He was biting my hand earlier,” smiled Sharon Baker as she stood in a pen feeding a handful of goats.
She’s proud to accept the title of “Crazy Goat Lady”, she even had it written on her homemade t-shirt for her interview at Dreamer’s Farm. Baker’s work with the animals has kind of become a full-time job for her, something she didn’t envision a decade ago.
Her goat-centric journey started in 2013 when her pastor at Spring Valley Baptist Church in Raytown asked her Sunday school class to raise money to buy a goat for a family in need. At the time it cost $75, but now it’s $85 to get a goat.
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Questioning the initiative at first, Baker prayed about it and was soon collecting money with her class by selling homemade items.
“It took us a full month-and-a-half to get the first goat,” she said. “By the end of the year we had 56 goats.”
She nearly stopped after that but said she thought about hungry kids in other countries who needed a hand up. Now, 10 years later, Baker’s raised enough money to buy more than 1,000 goats for families all over the world: Africa, Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe. A total of about $85,000 raised.
Her pastor came up with the goat initiative through World Vision, a Christian humanitarian aid organization, which works to save children from hunger. Its top priority, however, is to provide families with clean water.
“The goat keeps a child from being hungry. It’s a hand up instead of a hand out for the family and they’re able to become viable,” Baker added.
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The goats at Dreamer’s Farm in Excelsior Springs aren’t donated to families; Baker just works with them locally, taking them into schools and churches to raise interest in her mission.
Instead, World Vision buys goats from a local farmer where a family in need lives, like Ethiopia, for example. Each family gets one male and three females.
“With that small herd,” added Sharon, “that family can have extra milk, because goats produce 16 cups a day for 10 years.”
Families can drink the goat’s milk and use it to make cheese and yogurt, which they can then sell at their local marketplace and make a profit.
Many use their earnings to purchase medicine, clothes, school supplies, or whatever they need to survive. Female goats can give birth up to twice a year, which means a single family can grow their herd from four to at least 10 within the span of 12 months.
Goats also provide families with fertilizer for their gardens and eat noxious weeds, helping to keep snakes away.
“My favorite animals,” said Baker, who plans to keep doing this work for the rest of her life. “These guys are lifesavers.”
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She’s partnered with Jasper’s Italian Restaurant in Kansas City to make more people aware of her mission. The plan is to get even more local businesses involved to make a different in the world.
Baker’s next goal is to raise enough money to provide 2,000 goats to families in other countries. If you want to help her out, click here.
