Mark your calendars, Giving Tuesday is around the corner- December 3rd, and YOU have GOOD to give! Last year you took our breath away with your efforts to help us reach our goal, and this year the same goal is back: To Feed All of the Gentle Giants Who Help Our Clients. All 26 of them! Can we count you in for December 3rd?
Every dollar you donate on Giving Tuesday will help us get to our big goal of $32,448 (the cost to feed all of our therapy horses for a year)! A donation of $24 feeds a horse for an entire week.
What is #GivingTuesdayCLT?
Answer: Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving. After the sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s a time to celebrate and encourage charitable activities that support nonprofit organizations. #GivingTuesdayCLT is Charlotte’s very own version of the global giving campaign, which in 2016 was the largest Giving Tuesday campaign in the world! It is an unprecedented collaboration of hundreds of Charlotte nonprofits as well as corporations, local businesses, community organizations and individuals coming together through good. Together we hope to inspire over 1 million people to be a part of #GivingTuesdayCLT by making a gift of money, volunteer time, or goods on Tuesday, December 3! No gift is too small. YOU have GOOD to give and can help make Charlotte stronger. You can learn more about the citywide campaign at sharecharlotte.org.
What’s our goal?
Answer: With your help we can meet our huge goal this year. Our goal is raise enough money to feed our whole herd of therapy horses for one year or $32,448 to ensure that our patients can go on receiving their amazing benefits (the majority of whom never receive a bill).
What can YOU do?
Answer: We’re asking our amazing community to donate the cost to feed one therapy horse for one week (or more) which is $24. We’re hoping that all together we can get all 26 horses fed for 52 weeks! You can even choose a horse to feed!
Why is it so important / What does it mean for the children of Shining Hope Farms?
Answer: Our therapy horses do important work and have unparalleled benefits to our patients. They are the main and most valuable tool used during our therapy sessions and they also work hard during therapeutic riding lessons.
Our therapy horses are our not-so-secret weapon behind the life-changing medical milestones children are making every day.
The benefits they provide are enabling the children with disabilities that we serve to achieve functional goals—facilitating transformational quality of life improvements for them and their families.
Why so much?
Answer: Our horses weigh over 1,000 pounds and eat a lot of food so it costs a lot to feed them! Feeding our therapy horses is one our biggest and most challenging expenses and it is not covered by insurance reimbursements from our therapy services.
All of our patients have unique needs, which is why we have a wide variety of horses across our three locations that are unique in what they can provide to our patients.
Hamilton is one such example. Hamilton, better known as “Hami” is a rescue pony, who was saved from a bad situation. He is one of our most lively ponies as he really loves to move! Hami is a great match for patients who have trouble focusing or feel at ease with a lot of sensory input. They love to ride Hami and experience his bouncy gait. Getting all of this sensory input can actually help them better pay attention and respond to the therapy that they are receiving simultaneously from their physical, occupational, or speech therapist.
Thank You to This Year’s Sponsors