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Southern Market Report
Heifer International Builds Green Headquarters
In Little Rock, Arkansas, a 21-acre site with a history of industrial use is
on its way to becoming home to a green facility and the new headquarters for
an international organization working to end hunger in the United States and
countries around the world. Thanks to the efforts of private, state and federal
entities, this formerly contaminated property will benefit and impact not just
Little Rock, but communities worldwide.
For more than 100 years, this site, situated on the banks of the Arkansas River
in downtown Little Rock, was used by Union Pacific Railroad as a rail yard.
Warehousing, light industrial and trucking companies also used the property.
Superior Trucking operated on the site for more than 50 years, contaminating
the area through decades of vehicle maintenance and other activities. Chemicals
and residues from the railroad ties and tracks also contributed to contamination
and to the site’s status as one of Little Rock’s brownfields.
Heifer Steps In
The site’s outlook brightened dramatically when Heifer International
selected the property for its new headquarters. The nonprofit organization provides
families around the world with livestock and training, giving them the resources
and skills needed to become self-sufficient in food and income production.
Heifer’s planned 92,000-square-foot green facility, designed by Polk Stanley
Yeary architects of Little Rock, will include a four-story office building and
education complex. Plans are being developed for a “Global Village,”
an outdoor replica of communities from around the world, where visitors will
learn about solutions to world hunger and poverty during indoor/outdoor education
programming and public events.
Sidebar
Heifer International Helping Tsumani Victims Rebuild
As relief and aid organizations work to meet the immediate basic human needs
of tsunami victims in south and southeast Asia, Heifer International is preparing
programs that will help victims rebuild their lives over the long term.
Heifer International’s Asia field staff will expand existing sustainable
development programs in Northern Sumatra, one of the areas hardest hit in the
disaster. Heifer has committed $1 million for programs to provide training,
livestock and related help to victims on the coast of Sumatra and elsewhere
in the region to rebuild lives and farms over the next few years.
Heifer has helped small farmers on the Indonesian island for more than a decade.
The existing Heifer projects are inland and not directly affected by the quake
and its aftermath. Heifer will reach out to the coastal communities hardest
hit and support families in their efforts to rebuild.
Heifer Indonesia staffers and partner organizations already on the ground will
work together over the next few years to rebuild agricultural production, increase
family incomes and support housing, education and public health efforts.
For more than 60 years Heifer International has worked with small farming communities
to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. Heifer now operates in 50
nations, including the United States. You can donate to Heifer International
to assist with tsunami redevelopment and other programs at www.heifer.org