“GIDDY UP” TO EQUAMORE MILESTONES
In May of this year, the Equamore Foundation Board of Directors took on a huge responsibility: we accepted a low-cost loan from a generous benefactor to buy the property formerly known as Eden Farm. We agreed that Equamore Foundation would meet certain milestones to keep the loan in force. Meeting these milestones will insure that Equamore Foundation will continue to fulfill its mission and provide sanctuary for horses in need.
The Board and volunteers have worked hard to save every dime on expenses so that we can meet our milestones through the monthly donations of our many Equamore Friends, but in the last year alone, we have been asked to take on no fewer than nine more neglected or abused horses who had no alternatives for their care. Since it is our mission to serve such horses, we could hardly say no.
Sadly, two of these horses have since died: Lady had been starved for so long that she succumbed, most likely to malnutrition, just a week after her arrival. Hoover, whose valiant struggle captured our hearts for the six months he was with us, was humanely euthanized when our veterinarian predicted that he would soon be unable to walk because of the intense pain in his deteriorating hooves.
Their deaths and the way Sassy, Chance, Thor, Raffie, Hazel, Ranger, and Poquito came into our care demonstrate the continuing need for horse rescues in Southern Oregon. Additionally, the healthy horses who can be seen grazing in our pastures along Highway 66 or who live safely in foster care are proof that our rescue work is effective and well worth the effort and expense it takes to rescue horses.
Equamore Foundation is one of the country’s longest-running horse welfare non-profits, and we continue to gain donors despite an ongoing economic recession. So far your regular monthly donations go a long way to cover the ongoing cost of feeding, housing, and caring for our 45 Equamore horses.
But we need extra help making our first important milestone, a $50,000 first-year loan payment due on the first of May 2013. As an incentive to other Equamore Friends, a generous donor has committed to match, dollar-for-dollar (up to a $25,000), any contribution of $500 or more so that we can achieve this milestone before the end of the year. We’ve stayed current on our monthly interest payments, and we’re already half way there.
Now, we need your help to “giddy-up” and make it all the way to this first milestone by the last day in December. I have a plan to do my share. I’ve asked every adult and teen in my extended family to forego their Christmas gifts this year, so that I can contribute my Christmas Club bank account to Equamore Foundation in the name of Sheba, the Equamore horse I fostered for almost 15 years and General, the Equamore horse I help sponsor now. If I give $1000, that means my gift is really worth $2000!
I’ve also asked each of my close relatives to forgo giving me a gift and instead, sending me a check for an amount they’d like me to add to my contribution, doubling its value, too. I believe my plan is very much in the spirit of the holidays, for it emphasizes giving over receiving and meets the stewardship responsibilities we owe to God’s other creatures.
