| News |
JUNE 2010 Much is happening at Horses for Hope! Our spring therapeutic riding session went very well and we ended it with a fun horse show for the therapy kids. We look forward to our fall session - please contact us via e-mail if you are interested in volunteering for our fall session. TRAGEDY is among us... Our beloved horse Gracie has come down with EPM - click here to read her story - we will need lots of financial support to pay for her meds. Would you please help? A huge THANKS goes out to all that help and support Horses for Hope! October 2009 Horses for Hope has made a lot of progress during 2009 and there is still lots to be done. ** VOLUNTEERS are NEEDED for a Fall Festival fundraiser at the new Manor Six Forks apartments in Raleigh (www.manorsixforks.com) – here are the details “The festival is on November 14th and is from 12pm-4pm. They could also use a little clean up help too. Either two or four hour shifts would be great. They will have about nine different games and five other activities they need help with.” We will have our mini horses there as well. ** We are also having a Tupperware fundraiser so if you would like to get a sales packet for you to sell to your friends, family and co-workers please let me know. If you are not able to help on the selling end but you would like to place an order for yourself please let me know so I can take your order. OR if you don't want to buy and can't sell we are always happy to accept donations. ** Horses for Hope will be participating in the Garner Christmas Parade again this year on December 5th, so if you would like to help decorate the "float" trailer, donate decorations or candy and/or would like to walk along with our group in the parade please RSVP so we can get you on our list. ** If anyone has any electrical skills and would like to donate their time in helping us get our ring lights installed PLEASE RSVP ASAP so we can get this project finished. ** We are also looking for folks with building skills so we can get our stalls finished in the new barns. Let me know if you or someone you know can volunteer their time in this area of need. ** Last but really important - WE NEED good dirt (no hard clay) free of rocks with some sand mixed in to be hauled to our facility - possibly 30-35 loads for our lower riding arena - we are anxious to start using that arena but are having a hard time finding AND HAULING the dirt to our grounds. If you know of any contractors that are looking to haul away dirt from a work site PLEASE pass my contact info to them and ask them to give me a call. If you, anyone you know or any company you know that is looking for a charity to donate to for tax purposes - WE ARE THE ONE that they can donate to - please refer them to our website at www.horsesforhope.org to learn more about us. Horses for Hope therapeutic riding for special needs kids and adults is a non-profit charity organization. I can't believe this year is almost over - just 2 months to go. I hope all of you are having a great year and are looking for an even better one in 2010!! Thank you all for supporting Horses for Hope! July 2009 Horses for Hope made the Channel 11 News! Here’s the link… http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/video?id=6915521 With the news spot and word of mouth we have a growing need to serve more special needs folks and the waiting list is getting bigger. We will start back with Therapeutic Riding on September 14th and due to the high interest in our services we would like to expand to doing one session on Wednesday at 5:00 and one session on Fridays at 4:45 - and possibly a Saturday session at 11:30. We will still continue serving on Mondays at 4:45, 5:30 and 6:15. We will need volunteers on Mondays at 4:45, 5:30 and 6:15, Wednesdays at 5:00 and Fridays at 4:45. Leaders and side-walkers must be at least 15 years old and groomers can be younger but should have some horse experience. We will need the groomers to arrive no later than 4:30 and it will be VERY important to have the horses ready no later than 4:45. The ride sessions will last no longer than 30 minutes but could be less depending on the student. The last day will be December 14th for a total of 14 weeks. We will stop for the winter and resume in March of 2010. We will have 2 volunteer training days - Monday August 24th at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday August 29th at 5:00 p.m. - Please pick one day that you can come – This training will be mandatory for all that will be volunteering with the therapeutic riding program whether you have volunteered in the past or not – volunteers will only need to attend one of the two days. PLEASE RSVP to volunteer@horsesforhope.org so we can get you on our volunteer log - please include the best contact number so we can reach you as well as which days and times you will be able to commit your time – we will hold Mondays as a priority over the other days. A bit of sad news… Greyson Sutton, one of our past students passed away at the age of 8 on July 6th. I have a special memorial page for him the link is on our home page. The family was gracious enough to recommend folks to send donations to Horses for Hope in Greyson memory. We have 2 new fundraisers planned this fall: September 4th will be our Moonlight Trail Ride followed a fire-side camp out (weather permitting) – you will not have to ride the moonlight ride to participate in the fire-side camp out. The trail ride will be limited to those that have riding experience and we will only have space for approximately 6-7 riders - the cost will be $25 and you MUST sign-up and pre-pay (non-refundable) for this ride. The camp-out will be $7 per person and we supply the hot dogs and marshmallows - you can bring chips and drinks. You should bring a tent if you have one along with your sleeping bag and pillow! HfH will cook scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast - you can bring your own food if you'd like. We will need volunteer help with watching over the fire(s) and help with cooking. Children under age 15 must be accompanied an adult or permissive baby-sitter. October 30th we will have a Haunted Hay Ride! We will need LOTS of volunteer help with planning, setting up and running the props - we need to start NOW so please RSVP if you want to help with this event. Check out the rest of our scheduled events on our calendar page. We have a new volunteer coordinator! Beverly Wimberly – please contact her for any volunteer questions, comments or RSVP’s – you can contact her at volunteer@horsesforhope.org. Summer Camp – there are 4 spots open for the week of September 14-18 (track 1 – track-out) and there are 2 spots open for the week of October 5-9 (track 4 – track-out). E-mail if you would like to reserve a spot. Mommy and Me - A new program for children ages 3-6 – go to our home page and click on Mommy and Me link for more information. Space is limited and there are only 4 spots left! E-mail me if you would like to reserve a spot. February 2009 - Horses for Hope has been busy renovating their riding ring. It has been enlarged and new ground material has been brought in. We'd like to send a HUGE thanks out to Percy Johnson Haulers for giving us a discounted rate on the hauling cost, in addition, we like to thank Martin Marietta Quarry for donating 100 tons of material and allowing us a discount on an additional 100 tons. THANK YOU!!! With the expansion of our riding arena we have added more lesson slots so if you are interested in taking riding lessons - check out our lesson openings by clicking here. We are working on putting up a permanent fence around our new arena so bear with us through our construction period. We are also working on building new stalls for the horses. MORE News!! HfH has expanded their riding instructions to include Hunter/Jumper lessons. We now teach Western, English and Hunter/Jumper lessons. ****************************************************** Click here for the MAY 2007 Newsletter ****************************************************** HfH News – June 2005 Much has been happening at Horses for Hope since the New Year began and here are some highlights! The Auer family has faithfully been working each week to complete the riding pen. The St. Bernadette’s Youth Group helped finish the project during their work day in July…yeah!! In February, Sea Cadet Kevin Kennedy assisted with the installation of a new sign and flower bed at the facility. Now the sign can be read from both directions and the pink petunias give a cheery greeting when visitors arrive. The minis traveled to the Garner Petsmart on March 19 for a publicity and fund raising event. Everyone loved those little guys!! Sara Boatright has volunteered to head up a fund raiser and publish a newsletter. She has already compiled a much needed media kit that is very informative. Bonnie Field and Connie Maes gave the tack room a good cleaning and organizing in April. Bonnie purchased buckets to hold the grooming supplies of each horse and Connie cleaned and labeled everything. April 23 was the first “official” work day for 2005. Several Resident Advisors from NCSU came to groom the horses and plant azaleas. Yes, the flowers are finally in the ground & looking good! Thanks to Sarah Sawyer, Shelia Mobley, and Laura Heaton! Also that day, Josh Mauney and Tami Maes put up plywood and siding on the new shelter that was constructed for the minis last fall. Josh proved to be quite the “handy man” as he fixed fences and did various other odd jobs. Josh returned on May 8 with the Maes Family to paint the new siding and one side of the main barn. Of course, the color is “Barn Red” and looked great when the white azaleas bloomed in front of it!! A presentation was made to the Ruritanettes on May 9 by Sarah Birdsong, Dawn Deuel, Bonnie Field, Gwen Grissom, and Connie Maes. A generous $300 donation was received and used toward the quarterly insurance payment. Kevin Kennedy and 12 other members of the US Naval Sea Cadet Corp Kodiak Amphibious Battalion along with 3 adult advisors dug 45 post holes for the new permanent fence around the minis’ lot on May 14. Girl Scout Troop 376 worked on acquiring their merit badges by cleaning up the pasture and grooming the minis. May 21 the minis went to the State Fairground Flea Market where they were an instant hit! Hundreds of children and adults stopped by for some “hands on lovin’ “. Donations collected totaled $224 and are earmarked towards transportation costs for nursing home visits by these 3 little darlings! Dawn hauled 6 sheets of plywood to the barn on June 6, where Kevin & Shaun Kennedy, Mary Beth Holder, and Connie used it to repair part of the hayloft floor in the main barn. They then helped move some hay to the newly repaired area. Bonnie organized a GIANT yard sale at the facility on June 11. Generous donations of clothing and assorted items were overwhelming, resulting in almost $600 being taken in that day. It was just in time to help pay the quarterly insurance premium. Four delightful teenagers are new volunteers at HfH. Morgan Keeling and Megan Peevey will be assisting with lessons and camp, while Courtney Phillips and her cousin Kelsey Davenport will be helping with grooming and other facility maintenance tasks. Kevin Kennedy and Connie moved hay from the dump truck to the hayloft of the auxiliary barn on June 13. The July 16 work day saw about 2 dozen members of St. Bernadette’s Youth Group in Fuquay on hand to do various chores. They assisted Ken Auer in finishing the riding ring. Josh Mauney supervised a crew as they began construction of stalls for the miniature horses. Gwen had many willing hands to help her set the fence posts for the permanent fence for the miniature horses. Other groups moved lumber, fixed the hayloft floor, unloaded and stacked hay, trimmed grass and weeds from the riding ring and riding trail. The next scheduled event will be a “Belated Birthday Bash” for our little Sergeant who turned 2 years old in June. A plate lunch fund raiser, silent auction and door prizes will be offered on Aug 6, in the Garner Petsmart parking lot from 11 am to 3 pm. Sometime this fall, shelters in the pasture will need to be built. The lean-to needs to be repaired and stall constructed in it. Both barns need repairs and painting. On October 15, we plan to host a Chili Cook Off at the Ruritan Center at the intersection of Rt 1010 and Rt 401. More details later as they become available. |
 |
 |